How to study the politics of global health security? Developing an interdisciplinary network and research agenda

Policy makers and analysts frequently call for greater ‘political will’ to improve global health security. Yet, political analysis is rarely integrated into research and practice to understand, for instance, how political will is generated and why it is often lacking. While political analyses of global health are increasing, they originate mostly from researchers in high-income countries. This is problematic not only from an equity perspective, but also because global health policy implementation happens largely in low- and middle-income countries. Yet, politics is often local, reflecting local interests, power relations and institutions. Effective political analysis, therefore, requires local experts. 

I will bring together researchers with a background in biomedical sciences, public health and political analysis from Tanzania and the UK. We will have a series of workshops to facilitate cross-disciplinary engagement and capacity building, and seek to develop a common research agenda on the politics of health security in Tanzania and East Africa.