{"id":355180,"date":"2025-07-31T17:30:48","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T12:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=355180"},"modified":"2025-07-31T17:11:40","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T11:41:40","slug":"policy-circle-and-sustainable-policy-solutions-foundation-offering-two-day-certificate-course-on-introduction-global-health-diplomacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/07\/31\/policy-circle-and-sustainable-policy-solutions-foundation-offering-two-day-certificate-course-on-introduction-global-health-diplomacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Policy Circle and Sustainable Policy Solutions Foundation offering Two Day Certificate Course on Introduction to Global Health Diplomacy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As the world emerges from the long shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for diplomacy that bridges the gap between public health and global governance has never been more urgent. From vaccine equity to pandemic response coordination, climate-linked disease migration to global supply chain vulnerabilities, public health has vaulted into the highest corridors of international policymaking. Recognizing this shift, Policy Circle and Sustainable Policy Solutions Foundation are jointly offering a two-day, in-person certificate course titled \u201cIntroduction to Global Health Diplomacy\u201d.<\/span> Scheduled for August 7\u20148 at the India International Centre, New Delhi, the course seeks to equip the next generation of public health professionals, government officials, researchers, and international agency staff with the tools to understand and influence global health policy in an age of multipolar geopolitics.<\/p>\n

Expanding frontiers of health diplomacy<\/h3>\n

Global health diplomacy is no longer the preserve of ministries of health alone. It now sits at the intersection of foreign affairs, national security, trade policy, humanitarian relief, and climate negotiations. Its expanding scope requires understanding the cross-sectoral stakes of multilateralism, data diplomacy, vaccine access negotiations, migration-linked healthcare, and health equity in conflict zones.<\/p>\n

This training recognizes these evolving complexities. Drawing on the latest developments, including recent executive orders by the US White House with implications for global health strategy, it offers a case-based lens to understand how foreign policy tools are being used to advance (or constrain) health outcomes worldwide.<\/p>\n

What the course offers<\/h3>\n

Participants in this two-day course will gain both conceptual clarity and practical insight across six tightly structured modules:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Module 1:<\/span> Foundations of global health diplomacy<\/p>\n

An overview of the principles, actors, and institutions shaping global health governance, including the WHO, UN agencies, GAVI, and emerging multilateral groupings like BRICS+. The session will also address financing mechanisms and power asymmetries between donor and recipient nations.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Module 2:<\/span> Stakeholder mapping and power dynamics<\/p>\n

Who drives the global health agenda? This module will help participants identify and critically analyze the influence of states, international NGOs, philanthropic foundations, civil society organizations, and corporate actors, each operating with their own incentives.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Module 3:<\/span> Instruments and ideals of global health<\/p>\n

Using frameworks such as Universal Health Coverage, the Sustainable Development Goals, and Health-in-All-Policies, the course will analyze how ideas become action and how diplomacy often shapes what succeeds and what stalls.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Module 4:<\/span> The power of data in diplomacy<\/p>\n

Diplomacy today requires fluency in numbers. Participants will explore how both epidemiological and economic data are marshalled to prioritize global health agendas, and how selective use of evidence can shape negotiations.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Module 5:<\/span> Health as foreign policy<\/p>\n

From India’s Vaccine Maitri initiative to the EU\u2019s pandemic preparedness pact and the US\u2019s use of sanctions with health exemptions, participants will understand how governments increasingly integrate health into their strategic calculus.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Module 6:<\/span> Collective diplomacy<\/p>\n

Climate-induced health threats, antimicrobial resistance, and future pandemics require collective action. This final module explores how countries negotiate binding agreements and why equity remains an elusive goal in multilateral health deals.<\/p>\n

Course Director and Faculty<\/h3>\n

The course will be led by Dr Joe Thomas, MSc, PhD, FRSPH\u2014Director of Learning at AICHM Melbourne, and Chair of Global Public Health at the Sustainable Policy Solutions Foundation. Dr Thomas brings decades of experience working at the intersections of academia, fieldwork, and multilateral policy, and currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of Critical Public Health (Taylor & Francis, UK).<\/p>\n

Who should attend<\/h3>\n

The course is tailored for a wide cross-section of professionals:<\/p>\n