Health and demography

Health and disease are intimately connected with the movement of people, goods, and ideas emblematic of globalization. As a result, global health politics and political demography are deeply interrelated, yet relatively underexplored in research. Disease can affect age structure just as fertility can, with profound implications for political institutions, the international community’s global health agenda, and our collective understanding of the short- and long-term effects of particular health challenges. This chapter highlights four connections between global health and political demography: the ideas of the epidemiological and health transitions; the growing awareness of the connections between health, environmental change, and migration; the importance of addressing gender within global health programs, particularly around issues of maternal mortality and conflict; and the structure of contemporary global health governance and its ability to respond to crises.