Private Philanthropy and Global Health

Speaker: Professor Anne-Emanuelle Birn(Professor of Critical Development Studies (UTSC) and Social and Behavioural Health Sciences (Dalla Lana School of Public Health) at the University of Toronto)

In recent years, there has been a growing debate about what role philanthropic foundations should play in global health governance zboth generally and, particularly, vis-à-vis the World Health Organization (WHO). Much of this discussion revolves around today’s gargantuan philanthropy, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and its sway over the agenda and modus operandi of global health. Yet such pre-occupations are not new. The Rockefeller Foundation (RF), the unparalleled 20th century health philanthropy heavyweight, both profoundly shaped WHO and maintained long and complex relations with it, even as both institutions changed over time. This talk examines the WHO-RF relationship from the 1940s to the 1980s, tracing its ebbs and flows, key moments, challenges, and quandaries, concluding with reflections on the implications of the present intertwining of philanthropy and global health.