Global health
Public Health and Policy
Definition. Global health is an area of study, research and practice that prioritises improving health and achieving equity for all people worldwide, with attention to transnational issues.
Explanation
Koplan and colleagues proposed a common definition emphasising interdisciplinary and transnational approaches (Koplan et al., 2009). Bibliometric mapping shows rapid growth of global research on health equity (Sarikhani et al., 2025), while topics such as menstruation remain marginal in global health policy (McAllister et al., 2025).
Related concepts
Health equity One Health Planetary health Universal health coverage (UHC)
Read on The Health Topics
- Mapping Global Health Equity Research: A Bibliometric Study
- Understanding Menstruation in Global Health Policy
References
Koplan, J. P., Bond, T. C., Merson, M. H., Reddy, K. S., Rodriguez, M. H., Sewankambo, N. K., & Wasserheit, J. N. (2009). Towards a common definition of global health. The Lancet, 373(9679), 1993–1995. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60332-9
McAllister, J., Amery, F., Channon, M., & Thomson, J. (2025). Where is menstruation in global health policy? The need for a collective understanding. Global Public Health, 20 (1), 2448272. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2024.2448272
Sarikhani, Y., Kalavani, A., & Najibi, S. M. (2025). Scientific Mapping of Global Research on Health Equity by 2023: A Bibliometric Study. Health Science Reports.
Cite this entry: Kurutkan, M. N. (2026). Global health. In The Health Topics glossary. https://healthtopic.org/glossary/global-health/