A new conceptual framework of global health—one that embraces health as a fundamental social goal, and that includes all populations in the world, regardless of nation state, geographical position or stage of development—is essential for change. Such a framework expands the “knowledge terrain” for global health and captures the conceptual interconnectedness between three elements: health conditions (the “problem”), the determinants of health (the “context”), and societal responses (the “solutions”). An effective new paradigm will place people, not diseases, at the center of our efforts, and recognize the blurred lines between social, political, economic, and environmental domains as they shape health determinants, both locally and globally.
