• How has globalisation exacerbated inequalities within and between countries?
• Can the World Health Organization fulfil its mandate “to act as the directing and co-ordinating authority on international health work”?
• To what extent do trade agreements undermine the scope for health policy?
• How can the health impacts of transnational corporations be effectively regulated in a global economy?

The programme examines the complex relationships between health objectives and the trade policies of leading states. It addresses and critiques the expanded roles of the commercial sector and civil society, the recent development of influential global health “partnerships” such as the Global Fund against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the emergence of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Dr Jeff Collin
Email: jeff.collin@ed.ac.uk

The Global Public Health Unit
School of Social and Political Science
University of Edinburgh
Chrystal Macmillan Building, 15a George Square
Edinburgh
EH8 9LD
Tel: +44 (0)131 651 3009 /1560
Fax: + 44 (0)131 651 3762
Email: gradschool.sps@ed.ac.uk
Internet: Click here

This programme explores why some groups in society enjoy better health than others, and what this means for efforts to improve population health. Students explore current theories around the causes of health inequalities, looking beyond individual lifestyle and behavioural factors to consider the more fundamental social determinants of health.

• Why are there persisting health inequalities between different population groups defined by class, education, income, and ethnicity or race?
• How does the distribution of wealth and power in society relate to health status?
• How does public policy – including economic, social, and health policy – affect health and health inequalities?
• How do international systems such as immigration, trade, and the activities of international organisations, influence health inequalities?

This programme provides students with frameworks and tools for examining, understanding, and addressing health disparities, including public policy approaches to improve population health and reduce health inequalities.

Tel: +44 (0)131 651 3009 /1560
Fax: +44 (0)131 651 3762
Email: gradschool.sps@ed.ac.uk
Internet: Click here

“All health systems, whether in developed or developing countries, are under pressure to broaden access to health services while improving the quality and efficiency of the care they provide. At a time when the scope for increasing expenditure is limited, designing cost-effective health systems has become a major focus of public policy – and one that has huge political salience, as the debate accompanying health care reform in the United States makes clear.

“In many countries, reform efforts centre on containing costs, with a focus on slowing the growth of health system expenditure, which is often presented as unsustainable. Powerful global actors such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund promote the creation of more competitive environments among health care providers and insurers (along with a more prominent role for the private sector) as a means of improving the performance of countries’ health systems.

“Running in parallel with these reforms, there are renewed efforts – now supported by a coalition of global actors, including the World Health Organisation – to improve the delivery of health services in low and middle income countries through sustained investment and a renewed focus on creating universal coverage. This reflects a growing appetite among policy-makers across the world to make health care services better and more accessible.

“We believe that additional experiences beyond the classroom are an essential part of an education in health systems and public policy, and our Unit’s strong ties to leading public health practitioners and policy-makers provide students with opportunities to learn from the real world of health systems. We have, for example, a strong record of helping to place people on the World Health Organisation’s Internship programme.

Tel: +44 (0)131 651 3009 /1560
Fax: +44 (0)131 651 3762
Email: gradschool.sps@ed.ac.uk
Internet: Click here

The programme is designed to be accessible to students from diverse academic backgrounds, notably the medical and social sciences, and will enable students to develop the skills necessary to conduct research in international public health policy It combines advanced training in research skills developed within the School of Social and Political Science with discipline-specific training by the Global Public Health Unit and Public Health Science. It enables students to study at least one substantive area of international public health policy and to draw on research training provision across the University of Edinburgh.

Distinctive features of this programme include:
* the integration of generic social science and discipline-specific public health research training.
* the application of social science research methods to public health issues.
* the interdisciplinary collaboration between the Graduate School Social & Political Science and Public Health Sciences.

Tel: +44 (0)131 651 3009 /1560
Fax: +44 (0)131 651 3762
Email: gradschool.sps@ed.ac.uk
Internet: Click here

This programme enables students to analyse and evaluate the globalisation of public health policy and its impact on societal and cultural health policy and practice. It will provide students, through an anthropological perspective, with an understanding of the challenges of implementing policy effectively in local contexts and the tensions globalisation may bring in different cultural situations.

• How can the impact of global health practices be studied from a cross-cultural point of view?
• How can health interventions be understood in a complex field of social, political, and religious forces?
• How are popular understandings of health and medicine transformed by global health practices?
• How can anthropological knowledge improve public health policy?

Anthropologists working in applied contexts aim to translate public health knowledge and policy into effective action. Simultaneously, many anthropologists reflect critically on how governmental health initiatives are ever more central to everyday life. This programme introduces students to the key issues in medical anthropology and gets them engaged with the field's distinctive perspective on global health.

Tel: +44 (0)131 651 3009 /1560
Fax: +44 (0)131 651 3762
Email: gradschool.sps@ed.ac.uk
Internet: Click here

The Centre of African Studies is particularly pleased to announce the new Postgraduate Certificate in Africa and International Development. This is a e-learning programme based on our highly popular MSc Africa and International Development. The Certificate is designed for people with an interest in international development and development practitioners who wish to develop analytical and theoretical skills along with an in-depth knowledge of development issues in the African continent. It seeks to contextualise and analyse the processes that have shaped poverty and underdevelopment in Africa, and the many responses to them.

The certificate will run between September 2011 and June 2012. Courses will be taught between September and the end of November (Politics and Theories of International Development), between January and March (Roots of Poverty and Development in Africa) and between April and end of June (Analysing Development Aid). Each course will be assessed through a 4,000 word essay.

Politics and Theories of International Development [20 credits]: This course offers an introduction, overview and critical analysis of the forces shaping international development. It explores the politics and theories of development by analysing the dominant and alternative social scientific theories that seek to explain development outcomes, and the actors and institutions involved.

Analysing Development Policy [20 credits]: This course provides both a practical overview of international development assistance, and equips students with the knowledge and tools to critically assess the social and political effects of aid, and the way aid policy is made and executed. We will explore the main rationales and theories for providing aid, the major themes in aid of the last two decades and contemporary debates.

Roots of African Poverty and Development [20 credits]: This course aims to analyse the historical and contemporary forces that shape poverty and underdevelopment through placing the global ‘south’ in historical and political context. A series of case studies will be used to interrogate our theoretical and conceptual understanding of the roots of poverty, and how to escape it.

The Graduate School of Social and Political Science, Chrystal Macmillan Building, 15A George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9LD
Tel: +44 (0)131 651 3009
Fax: +44 (0)131 651 1778
Email: gradschool.sps@ed.ac.uk
Internet: Click here