Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Background: Public health is under pressure from rising populism, disinformation, and weakened global institutions, threatening cooperation, equity, and trust in science. Analysis: Populism politicises health, suppresses evidence, and marginalises vulnerable groups. Public health diplomacy must adapt, becoming more politically aware, ethically grounded, and resilient. Policy Options: We propose nine ways forward: create diplomacy labs for crisis simulation; empower non-state actors like cities and NGOs; strengthen ethical communication and listening; protect health workers; build alternative accountability systems; reframe health as a diplomatic priority; decentralise and diversify funding; develop a new diplomacy curriculum; reinvent and defend multilateralism. Conclusion: Public health diplomacy must evolve into a bold, inclusive, and strategic force. By defending evidence, empowering diverse actors, and reforming institutions, it can safeguard health as a foundation for peace and global progress.
Source: Public health reviews
Institutions: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, European Public Health Association, Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, University of Memphis, City University of New York, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, Universidade do Porto, Institute of Public Health, University of Porto
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,389
OpenAlex ID: W4417023774