The hand, one of the world’s oldest peer-reviewed medical journals, “is arguably the most prestigious global medical journal in the world,” Gómez said. “And so it is a historic moment because The hand he has never done a series on politics and health and I think this will be very important in drawing attention to the importance of political science but also of interdisciplinary research in global health. ”
Gómez, who is also director of the Institute for Health Policy and Policy (IHPP) in Lehigh, he looked for a way for political scientists to participate more fully in the global health conversation.
“I realized that we really had a lot to say in the political science arena and we really needed to find a platform to share our views with the medical community and the public health community, people who may not know what they are. political science has to offer, “Gómez said. “When people think of political science, they think of elections and the study of elections and democracy. Certainly this is the canon of our discipline, but we deal a lot with health, education, [the] environment. … It is good that we have finally had this opportunity to share what political science has to offer. “
Jeremy Shiffman, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Global Health Policy at Johns Hopkins University and co-author of the series: “There are many political scientists around the world who produce excellent research on global health, but their work does not get to the heart of the globalization debates. health as often as necessary. We hope this series raises the profile of their work. ”
Shortly before his arrival at Lehigh in early 2020, Gómez reached out to Richard Horton, the chief editor of The hand, with the idea of a series of political science and health. Horton explained in a podcast on The hand website dedicated to the series as his work with Shiffman in the past “opened my eyes to the power of political science thinking in the context of global health.”
He continued: “I really hope this series can open the door a little to more papers that have a political science perspective and that really try to build bridges between a global health community that is rooted in the history of epidemiology and research on health. public health with a very different academic discipline and to see what can result from that fertilization.
The series, made possible thanks to funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, includes three articles and two commentaries. Gómez co-authored one of the comments, “Political science and global health policy”, Together with Shiffman, Prerna Singh of Brown University and Lorena Barberia of the University of São Paulo, Brazil.
“The political science and health series demonstrates how valuable a political science objective can be for understanding health issues, from why some health issues become international priorities while others fail to gain traction, to the policy of universal health coverage. This series is the start of a much broader conversation, “said Jessamy Bagenal, MD, senior medical editor of The hand.
Gomez said: “[Political scientists] offer theories and methods that provide alternative insights into health policy. This is our business. We study politics from a very sophisticated theoretical methodological perspective, and it is very different from saying that politics matters … The aim of the series is really to expose the medical and public health community globally as to why politics and political science are important, because our theories and methods are important ”.
Gómez’s research focuses on global health policy policy with a focus on emerging middle-income countries. In his next book, Junk food policy, critically examines the commercial determinants of health and “how relations between governments and industries such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Nestlé shape policies to the detriment of children in poorer health in developing countries.” Furthermore The handhis work has been published in magazines Social Sciences and Medicine, Health policy and planning, Global public healththe Urban health journal and the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practiceamong others.
Gómez highlighted the work of his colleagues at the Lehigh College of Health and the work of the college more generally.
“Here at the College of Health, we are developing a really strong area in health policy and policy and the multiple determinants of health,” he said. “We are a truly unique college in the sense that we have strengths that many other institutions do not have … It is very open to disciplinary perspectives and there is a home where people can do different jobs.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of a broad health perspective, Gómez said. “We need this kind of interdisciplinary approach and political science is a piece of the puzzle for our in-depth understanding of global and domestic health … [The College of Health is] do research on these different perspectives. This Hand it is truly exceptional for our university to demonstrate that we are making a global impact.