Who are the partners of the Dutch Global Health Hub?
Collaboration across sectors is important. That’s why the Dutch Global Health Hub brings together parties from different sectors that are active in the field of global health. These include knowledge institutions, knowledge platforms, academics, NGOs, top sectors, innovators and think tanks. The Hub offers a platform for collaboration on the challenges facing the health sector.
Collaboration based on each party’s specific role and expertise
The Hub offers an environment in which partners each contribute according to their own expertise and role. They do this within one or more Communities of Practice, thematic working groups of experts that promote innovation and knowledge exchange. Each community focuses on one of the priorities of the Dutch Global Health Strategy.
Three Communities of Practice
There are three Communities of Practice, each focusing on a specific theme:
- Strengthening the global health architecture and national health systems;
- Improving international pandemic preparedness and minimising cross-border health threats;
- Addressing the impact of climate change on public health, and vice versa.
‘Global Health Hub partners combine their strengths, seek connections, welcome each other’s ideas, exchange knowledge and innovate.’
Roles per sector
- The Dutch government can create an environment in which sectors can seamlessly exchange ideas and implement concerted, focused actions. This framework indicates how private and civil society partners can contribute to global health. The role of government is to steer and finance this effectively.
- Companies in the medical and health sectors can set principles for themselves and/or innovate their business models. For example: reinvesting company profits in public health; adapting products and services for use in the Global South through tailormade innovative processes; sharing knowledge (both patents and expertise) with partners in the Global South; charging countries with modest public health budgets lower prices for vaccines, medicines and medical equipment (this is already fairly common). Pharmaceutical companies could also collaborate on systematically improving access to essential medicines in the Global South.
- Civil society organisations can help identify health problems at local, national and international levels. Their role also includes encouraging participation, facilitating consultations between parties, and calling government and relevant organisations to account.
- Financial organisations: healthcare is important in both prosperous and poorer countries. New treatments, technologies and medicines are increasing the cost of healthcare in the Netherlands and worldwide. People are also living longer and the proportion of older people is increasing. These global trends mean more and more money is needed for healthcare. But this money cannot only come from the government. Companies, too, need to become involved as financiers of health research. This could generate extra resources.
- Sharing knowledge is essential in order to improve global health policy. Knowledge institutions play a key role, as they have the expertise required for a comprehensive approach encompassing prevention, vaccine development and production, treatment methods, health insurance, medicines, healthy lifestyles and a healthy environment.