Global Health in a Turbulence Time: A Commentary

The emergence of the 2019 novel coronavirus—or COVID-19—outbreak has resuscitated global attention on the state of global health governance. Legal scholars and political scientists have long been fascinated by global governance of health, which had galvanized intellectual discourse that began almost two decades ago. Increasingly, global health operates in a complex, multipolar world, which is informed by pluralistic values. The ever-changing configuration of players, interests and values adds complexity to the global health landscape. It is timely to reexamine the landscape of global health, where new transnational challenges—such as galvanizing a global concerted effort towards international infectious disease control, financing global health activities in a sustainable manner, and achieving Universal Health Coverage—also inform new global health configuration. The article takes a historical view and traces the evolving of the global health landscape and examines the various of norms, processes and institutions that form global governance of health. The article also identifies the strengths and weakness of the International Health Regulations—the international legal architecture for international infectious disease control—as the novel coronavirus outbreak unfolds.