Universität Wien

240130 SE VM8 / VM3 - Global Health and Development (2021S)

Continuous assessment of course work
SGU

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Wednesday 10.03. 13:00 - 16:00 Digital
  • Wednesday 24.03. 13:00 - 16:00 Digital
  • Wednesday 21.04. 13:00 - 16:00 Digital
  • Wednesday 05.05. 13:00 - 16:00 Digital
  • Wednesday 19.05. 13:00 - 16:00 Digital
  • Wednesday 02.06. 13:00 - 16:00 Digital
  • Wednesday 16.06. 13:00 - 16:00 Digital
  • Wednesday 30.06. 13:00 - 16:00 Digital

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Until further notices are given, the course will be held online. If students have any difficulties in taking online classes, please contact the lecturer per E-Mail before the first class.

The aim of the course is to introduce students to contemporary literature on global health with a particular focus on the extent and causes of inequalities in population health between and within countries. The concepts of economic wealth and health will be explored taking historical factors into consideration.

Students will have a chance to review and discuss the impact of more than US$30 billion spent annually in external development assistance for improving health. A new topic of COVID-19, which will be analysed from socio-economic and political perspective, has been added to the course.

The lecturer’s experiences in working in humanitarian and development aid in health will be shared when relevant.

Assessment and permitted materials

Regular attendance (online), quality of written assignments (short assignments + seminar paper) and presentation of Seminar Paper idea.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

A basic background in economics, politics and statistics is an advantage but is not a requirement. Backgrounds in medicine, epidemiology, psychology, nursing, social work, health sociology or medical anthropology would also be an advantage but again not a requirement. Anyone who is interested in exploring the reasons, pathways and causes of health inequality can take part.

A good command of written and spoken English is required. However, perfection is not expected and those who want to try are more than welcome. When necessary, guidance will be given how to read and write in English effectively and efficiently.

Students who have concerns in writing English texts should inform in advance.

Examination topics

There is no exam for this course. Below topics are covered in the short assignments.

I) Changes in population health since the start of industrial revolution. Focuses will be on: the extent of present-day health inequalities between and within countries; and technical and methodological challenges involved in measuring population health and health inequality.

2) Social determinants of health and health inequality. Major factors that influence population health including economic and political development and the forces associated with globalization.

3) Foreign aid and health: Did it help in reducing health disparities or made it worse? What are the roles of civil society organisations? Malaria and HIV/AIDS will be used as case studies.

4) COVID-19. Social and health inequality. Politicisation of Pandemic. Roles of government, NGOs and international organisations (ex. WHO).

Reading list

BOOKS

Angust Deaton, The Great Escape: Health, Wealth and the Origins of Inequality. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2013.

Randall M. Pakard, The Making of a Tropical Disease. Baltimore. MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007.

SELECTED articles

Institute of Medicine (USA), Understanding Population Health and its Determinants,? Ch. 2 in The Future of the Public Health in the 21st Century (Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine, 2002), pp. 46-95.

Thomas McKeown et al., An Interpretation of the Decline of Mortality in England and Wales during the Twentieth Century, Population Studies, vol. 29, 3 (November 1975), pp. 391-422.

Simon Szreter, The Importance of Social Intervention in Britain?s Mortality Decline. 1850-1914: a Reinterpretation of the Role of Public Health, Social History of Medicine, vol. 1, 1, pp. 1-38.

David E. Bloom & David Canning, The Health and Wealth of Nations, Science, vol. 287 (18 February 2000), pp. 1207-9.

Global Burden of Disease 2013 Collaborative, Global, regional, and national age-sex specific all-cause and cause-specific mortality for 240 causes of death, 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013, Lancet, vol. 385 (10 January 2015), pp. 117-71.

Jeffrey Sachs & Pia Malaney, The economic and social burden of malaria, Nature, vol. 415 (7 February 2002), pp. 680-85.

Michael Marmot, Health in an unequal world, Lancet, vol. 336 (9th December 2006), pp. 2081-94.

Michael Murphy et al., The Widening Gap in Mortality by Educational Level in the Russian Federation, 1980-2001, American Journal of Public Health, vol. 96, 7 (July 2006), pp. 1293-99.

Singer, M., Bulled, N., Ostrach, B., Mendenhall, E. (2017). Syndemics and the biosocial conception of health. Lancet 389:941-950. Doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30003-X.

Association in the course directory

VM3 / VM8; MA Globalgeschichte und Global Studies, Modul Vertiefung 2

Last modified: Fr 12.05.2023 00:21