Global Health Institute

Four Inspiring Goals

Comprising a diverse and distinguished panel of commissioners, the commission is co-chaired by two female scientists of African descent, Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health, and Ngozi Erondu, senior scholar at the O’Neill Institute and technical director of the Global Institute for Disease Elimination (GLIDE). It has outlined four specific charges:

1. ​Diagnose the problem of racism in health globally by reviewing existing national and cross-national evidence on racism in health in a global context. The commission will then describe the effects of racial and ethnic discrimination and its intersections on health at a national and international level.
2. Identify best practices and actionable anti-racist strategies, by, among other activities, holding consultations with people who have lived experiences of structural discrimination in health to discover how racist structures in select countries were addressed to close health equity gaps.
   
3. Compile a report of its findings, highlighting the strategies, tactics, and actionable lessons that other countries can use to develop anti-racist approaches in the sphere of health policy and service delivery to ensure equitable and just health outcomes.
   
4. Disseminate its findings widely to the public to ensure that the anti-racist strategies and actionable lessons produced are used and contribute a body of knowledge to augment efforts to decolonize global health.
   

Mofokeng explains how the commission’s goals will contribute to creating a transformative shift in the discourses surrounding racism and structural discrimination in global health, across communities and institutions.

"By leveraging partnerships, engaging communities, and conducting empirical research, the commission aims to transform global health outcomes and confront the root causes of racism and structural discrimination with unprecedented commitment and effort. We are fundamentally seeking to reshape global public health through equity and justice."

Discrimination in Health and Health Care

The commission started from the premise that racism is a transnational issue that requires global solutions, both inside and outside the health sector. While national racism has been researched in some countries, racism as a driver of health inequities is not sufficiently understood and addressed as a phenomenon that spans borders. Understanding global health’s most pressing challenges fundamentally necessitates an understanding of racism and inequity, both of which permeate the structures and institutions governing global health and health care systems.

By acknowledging racism’s global reach, the commission aims to propose solutions at a global level, leveraging evidence gathered to combat systemic discrimination. And by grounding its efforts in local contexts, the commission is looking to enact meaningful changes in laws and policies.

Katie Gottschalk, executive director of the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, emphasizes the importance of confronting inequities at their core.

"This commission is not just about studying health disparities but rather about rigorously analyzing racism and the structural causes of those disparities, in the service of actively dismantling the systems that perpetuate them.”

Get Involved and Learn More

Several centers for research and dialogue at Georgetown University are already tackling inequality – from the Center for Men’s Health Equity based in Georgetown’s Racial Justice Institute, which is especially committed to improving the health and well-being of Black and Latino/x men, to the O’Neill Institute’s Center for Global Health Policy and Politics, which works to understand the political determinants of health. The commission also provides an opportunity for the Georgetown community to further reflect on how to embed the research and findings into its own teaching, research, and service work.

Georgetown students, faculty, and staff, as well as the wider community, are invited to express interest in collaborating or providing support in areas such as data collection, event promotion, or research review by filling out this engagement form. While the commissioners range from global health and anti-racism scholars to leaders and activists with expertise in public health and racial discrimination as well as justice, law, human rights, and policy, they cannot serve as experts on all issues and welcome further interdisciplinary collaboration.

To follow the work of the commission and the co-chairs, find them on X: @RSDGHcommission, @drtlaleng, and @udnore.