Decolonizing global health: what should be the target of this movement and where does it lead us?
Abstract: The current decolonizing global health movement is calling us to take a post-colonial perspective at the research and practice of global health, an area that has been re-defned by contemporary scholars and advocates with the purpose of promoting equity and justice. In this article, we summarize the main points of discussion from the Symposium organized by the editorial board of Global Health Research and Policy, convened in July 2021 in Wuhan, China. Experts participating in the symposium discussed what decolonizing global health means, how to decolonize it, and what criteria to apply in measuring its completion. Through the meeting, a consensus was reached that the current status quo of global health is still replete with various forms of colonial vestiges–ideologies and practices–, and to fully decolonize global health, systemic reforms must be taken that target the fundamental assumptions of global health: does investment in global health bring socioeconomic development, or is it the other way around? Three levels of colonial vestiges in global health were raised and one guiding principle was proposed when thinking of solutions for them. More theoretical discussion needs to be explored to guide practices to decolonize global health.
The words we choose matter: recognising the importance of language in decolonising global health
Abstract: Recognition of the relevance of colonial history to the contemporary practice of global health is not new, but the recent increase in visibility and prominence given to it by global health institutions and flagship journals is welcome when accompanied by meaningful reflection and action.1The goal of decolonising global health is to critically reflect on its history, identify hierarchies and culturally Eurocentric conceptions, and overcome the global inequities that such structures perpetuate.2 We must reflect on the terminology we use when we discuss global health challenges, phrase research questions, write papers, teach students, or interact with patients, research participants, and the public. Although our choice of words shapes an audience's understanding of global health, the restricted range of expressions and terms prevents us from offering more nuanced and appropriate perspectives. The conceptualisation of English terms in other languages is often limited to literal translation that struggles to reproduce the same meaning, as highlighted by recently emerging technical terms, such as social distancing. Thus, to make real progress in the process of decolonising global health in our minds and practices, awareness, reflection, and change of language are fundamental.
Decolonisation among clinicians - Sarah Atayero on the need for diversity in training and the workforce.
BMJ Global Health: Decolonising global health in 2021: a roadmap to move from rhetoric to reform
Although its aims have not been formally defined, we see ‘decolonising global health’ as a movement that fights against ingrained systems of dominance and power in the work to improve the health of populations, whether this occurs between countries, including between previously colonising and plundered nations, and within countries, for example the privileging of what Connell calls research-based knowledge formation over the lived experience of people themselves.