An updated definition of global health

Kathryn H Jacobsen; Caryl E Waggett; Olusoji Adeyi; Walter Bruchhausen; Shahanaz Chowdhury; Patricia M Davidson; Ximena Garzón-Villalba; Lawrence O Gostin; Liz Grant; Philip J Landrigan; Hao Li; Mario C Raviglione; Nancy R Reynolds; Nelson K Sewankambo; Brittany Seymour; Keith W Martin

doi:10.1186/s41256-025-00460-8

An updated definition of global health

Glob Health Res Policy. 2025 Oct 28;10(1):56. doi: 10.1186/s41256-025-00460-8.

Authors

Kathryn H Jacobsen¹, Caryl E Waggett², Olusoji Adeyi³, Walter Bruchhausen⁴, Shahanaz Chowdhury⁵, Patricia M Davidson⁶, Ximena Garzón-Villalba⁷, Lawrence O Gostin⁸, Liz Grant⁹, Philip J Landrigan^{10

11}, Hao Li¹², Mario C Raviglione¹³, Nancy R Reynolds¹⁴, Nelson K Sewankambo¹⁵, Brittany Seymour¹⁶, Keith W Martin¹⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Studies, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA, USA. kjacobse@richmond.edu.
² Department of Global Health Studies, Allegheny College, Meadville, PA, USA.
³ Resilient Health Systems, Washington, DC, USA.
⁴ Medical Faculty, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
⁵ Department of Community Medicine, Bangladesh University of Health Sciences, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
⁶ Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁷ School of Public Health and Nutrition, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador.
⁸ O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.
⁹ Centre for Global Health, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
¹⁰ Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Boston, MA, USA.
¹¹ Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Monaco, MC, Monaco.
¹² School of Public Health/Global Health Institute, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
¹³ Centre for Multidisciplinary Research in Health Science, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
¹⁴ School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
¹⁵ School of Medicine, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
¹⁶ School of Dental Medicine, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
¹⁷ Consortium of Universities for Global Health, Washington, DC, USA.

Abstract

The most cited definition of global health, published in The Lancet in 2009, defines global health as "an area for study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide". In this article, we propose an updated definition that expresses the motivations of diverse global health actors and makes One Health and sustainability more visible: "Global health is a field of academic study, research, policy, and applied practice that advances the equitable protection and improvement of population and planetary health". Our "5 Ps model" illustrates global health as a grid that places health for all at the center of two axes representing four domains: (1) People, (2) Planet, (3) Priorities, and (4) Policies and Practices. The people-planet axis spans from social, economic, political, and other systems that affect human health to complex worldwide challenges such as those related to globalization, migration, pandemics, and climate change. The priorities-policies/practices axis positions global health as an action-oriented field in which factors such as human rights, international law, the global burden of disease, and evidence of economic impact inform the financing, implementation, and evaluation of multisectoral partnerships and interventions. We propose using this updated definition and the 5 Ps framework to modernize discussions of the scope and purpose of global health.

Keywords: Climate change; Global health; Health equity; International cooperation; International health; Intersectoral collaboration; Public health; Sustainable development.

MeSH terms

Global Health*
Health Policy
Humans