The GHSP evaluation, which was commissioned by DFID, concluded that China’s engagement in global health was already substantial, however, engagement increased over the period of the GHSP and diversified.
The article draws out the following conclusions from the evaluation:
- GHSP helped support dialogue between the UK and China on global health, but noted that partnership remained limited
- There is consensus that China could make important contributions to global efforts to address health needs and strengthen health security, however, effective partnership will require increased inter-country collaboration beyond senior policy makers (involving regulatory agencies, think tanks, research institutes, consultancy companies, etc) going forward.
- Space for research on China’s global health engagement was important in building awareness and capacity.
- Pilots run in low-income countries demonstrated an ability of Chinese agencies to support overseas programmes in collaboration with in-country partners, and to contribute to implementation, however, the pilots did not substantially engage Chinese and UK agencies in the pilot countries, and engagement with pilot country governments was slow to come.
The authors conclude that there is a need for stronger systems to support the development of a field in global health in China. The programme contributed in a significant way to changes underway in China and helped support a dialogue between the UK and China on global health. However, mechanisms to better support coordinated engagement with China will be needed.
The China-UK Global Health Support Programme ran from 2012 to 2019 and was funded by the UK government. It supported a wide range of activities intended to support China’s increasing role in global health assistance and governance.
Read ‘The China-UK Global Health Support Programme: looking for new roles and partnerships in changing times‘ written by Lewis Husain, Gerald Bloom and Sam McPherson (open access).
