The European Union and the United States need to conduct effective and sustained dialogue to address the common health-related challenges faced by developing countries, emerging economies and the developed world, suggests Gaudenz Silberschmidt, head of the Division of International Affairs at Switzerland's Federal Office of Public Health, in a paper published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Silberschmidt adds that the dialogue should attempt to seek a balance between implementing concrete steps to fight diseases and improving governance of global health approaches.
The dialogue could begin, Silberschmidt suggests, with discussions on how the EU and the U.S. can strengthen their respective national surveillance capacities. Health security, better linking of global health issues with hunger and food security, access to medicines, and global health governance should also be on the agenda, he states.
Silberschmidt further suggests that the EU and the U.S., which he says are the biggest players in the global health scene, should discuss how they can maintain their global health commitments given the prevailing financial crisis, strengthen the multilateral global health system, and address the need for more health professionals in different regions around the world.
