Conceptual and institutional gaps: understanding how the WHO can become a more effective cross-sectoral collaborator

This is the title of the recently published article building on the work of The Lancet - University of Oslo Youth Commission on Global Governance for Health.

In the article, Gopinathan et al. seek to identify possible explanations for the challenges WHO faces in addressing the broader determinants of health, and the potential opportunities for working across sectors.

Building on in-depth interviews and document analysis, the study seek to answer the following questions:

  • How does WHO conceptualize its mandate in global health?
  • What are the barriers and enablers to enhancing cross-sectoral collaboration between WHO and other intergovernmental organizations?
  • How do the dominant conceptual frames and the identified barriers and enablers to cross-sectoral collaboration interact?

Three main themes were identified:

  1. WHO’s role must evolve to meet the global challenges and societal changes of the 21st century;
  2. WHO’s cross-sectoral engagement is hampered internally by a dominant biomedical view of health, and the prevailing institutions and incentives that entrench this view; 
  3. WHO’s cross-sectoral engagement is hampered externally by siloed areas of focus for each intergovernmental organization, and the lack of adequate conceptual frameworks and institutional mechanisms to facilitate engagement across siloes.

In conslusion, the authors argue that: "There are a number of external and internal pressures on WHO which have created an organizational culture and operational structure that focuses on a narrow, technical approach to global health, prioritizing disease-based, siloed interventions over more complex approaches that span sectors. The broader approach to promoting human health and wellbeing, which is conceptualized in WHO’s constitution, requires cultural and institutional changes for it to be fully implemented".

Published Jan. 11, 2016 11:10 AM - Last modified July 1, 2021 9:16 AM