Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Th is article examines how colonial legacies continue to structure global health fi nancing and governance, perpetuating systemic inequities between the Global North and South, particularly African countries. Historical analysis reveals that colonial health systems were strategically designed to protect European interests while exploiting indigenous populations and establishing racially segregated frameworks whose structural biases persist in contemporary institutions. International fi nancial architecture, particularly through bodies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, reinforces these asymmetries through governance mechanisms that privilege wealthy nations in decision-making and resource allocation. Th e COVID-19 pandemic exposed these entrenched disparities, as vaccine nationalism and disparate fi scal capacities widened the existing health gaps. Emerging digital health technologies now risk establishing new extractive relationships, as health data harvested from vulnerable populations fl ows to high-income countries without adequate benefi t-sharing frameworks, a pattern identifi ed as data colonialism. Addressing these interconnected challenges requires decolonising global health governance through fundamental reforms that redistribute power, ensure data sovereignty, and centre historically marginalised voices in shaping health priorities and fi nancing mechanisms.
Authors: Lyla Latif, Harrison Otieno
Institution: University of Nairobi
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4416599435