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NON‐GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN INTERNATIONAL HEALTH: PAST SUCCESSES, FUTURE CHALLENGES
Author(s) -
GELLERT GEORGE A.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
the international journal of health planning and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1099-1751
pISSN - 0749-6753
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1751(199601)11:1<19::aid-hpm412>3.0.co;2-#
Subject(s) - economic growth , poverty , business , sustainability , political science , public relations , economics , ecology , biology
Non‐governmental organizations, or NGOs, are increasingly instrumental to the implementation of international health programs. Following an overview of current conditions in global health and the problems that could be targeted by NGOs, this article describes the activities and philosophies of several representative approaches in this sector. The attributes of NGOs that increase their potential effectiveness are discussed, including ability to reach areas of severe need, promotion of local involvement, low cost of operations, adaptiveness and innovation, independence, and sustainability. A summary is provided of major future challenges in international health that may be addressed by NGOs, with particular emphasis on tobacco‐related disease, communicable diseases and the AIDS epidemic, maternal mortality and women's health, injury prevention and control, and the need to secure durable financial support.