The strategy also condemns the “instrumentalization” of health and says closing “the emerging gaps in global health resilience” is crucial.
The U.S. has come under fire from global health advocates for offering funding deals with developing countries that formerly received USAID support, in return for them boosting disease surveillance and providing America with access to disease data and in some cases rare minerals.
“Health is increasingly instrumentalised in the pursuit of geopolitical and geoeconomic interests,” writes the Commission. “Global health governance is shifting away from multilateral cooperation and humanitarian principles towards at times overtly transactional bilateral approaches.”
Staying the course
The Commission wants to help strengthen countries’ health systems, fight fake news and tackle “dangerous dependencies” in supply chains — though it hasn’t announced any new funding for its plan.
To boost prevention, preparedness and response to crises, the EU will invest in drugs, vaccines and diagnostics. It will also help set up a new global therapeutics development coalition and EU hubs for therapeutics and diagnostics.
The EU will also help map global health spending, in collaboration with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Health Organization and the World Bank.