LIST OF PANELS

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) replaced the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) as of 2015, and the SDG implementation time frame runs until 2030.  Unlike the MDG’s, the SDG framework has a stand-alone “health” platform, encompassing parts of previous MDG’s and including some new goals.  Previous goals rolled into the SDG’s include:  reduction of maternal, newborn and child deaths, and reduction of diseases such as hepatitis, malaria and HIV/AIDS; and ensuring universal access to reproductive and sexual health-care services. 

It is clear that those who framed the SDG’s were informed by studies conducted by governments and ngo’s as to processes for ensuring better health, particularly in the Global South.  Thus, SDG 3 also incorporates working on:  improved mental health; strengthening the prevention of substance abuse, halving the number of global injuries and deaths from road accidents; achieving universal health insurance coverage, access to quality essential health-care services and to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines; substantially reducing the number of illnesses and deaths from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution; strengthening the WHO Framework convention’s implementation on tobacco control; providing access to affordable essential medicines and vaccines (including allowing developing countries to bypass the TRIPS regime of the DOHA WTO round reducing access to these); increasing health financing and the recruitment, training and retention of the health workforce in the Global South; and strengthen the capacity of countries, especially in the Global South, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks (http://www.who.int/topics/sustainable-development-goals/targets). In this turning point between the two sets of international development goals, the Research Committee 25 of the International Political Science Association aims to review the current challenges associated with the issue of sustainable global health.

For this panel, "Can SDG 3 'Ensuring Healthy Lives and Promoting Well-Being for All Ages' Be Achieved?" the relevant research question concerns the current challenges associated with the issue of sustainable global health and the framework set in place by the previous MDG's. In addition, papers must engage with at least one topic:

1) Defining the “state of the art” on achieving previous MDG’s that were rolled into SDG 3

2) Taking one of the “new” goals of SDG 3 and examining, in a  single or comparative study, the potential successes and failures in achieving one of the new goals;

3) In relationship to the above, a single-country or comparative study of the role of health insurance in denying or allowing a particular goal to be met;

4) Studying in a similar way to #'s 2/3 above the organization of the health-care system in a country (ies) and how it can help or impede one of the SDG 3 goals;

5) From a policy agenda and policy implementation perspective, a single-country or comparative study of the role of political and corporate lobbies that hinder the development of sustainable health policies (e.g. tobacco industry, polluting companies).

6) Analyzing the shift from Development to Sustainable Development goals, and the growing attention paid to environmental health factors as well as to preventive approaches.

Research questions:

1) What factors, if any, caused the incomplete implementation of MDG goals that were rolled into SDG 3?  Can they be overcome?

2) Are the new goals in SDG 3 achievable?  What are the pros and cons?

3) Does health insurance affect the new goals in SDG 3?  If so, how?

4) Does the organization (public, private, mixed, rural vs. urban) of health care in a country (ies) affect the likely ability to meet the newer goals of SDG 3?

5) How and on what scale do lobbies organize their actions in order to interfere with sustainable health policies? Is the national level still relevant?

6) MDG’s to SDG’s: paradigm shift or simple label change?