Global Health Diplomacy in the Context of COVID-19 Vaccine Acquisition: A Case Study of Ethiopia
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Date
2024-05
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The COVID 19 pandemic has enlighten the world of its existing inequality and vulnerability on global health infrastructure. With various geopolitical, logistical, and economic challenges during pandemics, GHD serves as a strategic tool for countries to achieve health goals through diplomatic efforts fostering negotiations and collaborations in ensuring equitable access to health care and vaccine access. While those richer countries secured vaccine stocks, many developing countries like Ethiopia, relied on global health diplomacy and international Aid to access the vaccine. By focusing on Ethiopia's GHD efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic within the dimensions of global health diplomacy, this research successfully uncovered the role, strategies, opportunities, challenges, and puts forward areas of improvement for future health emergencies. In doing so, the study provides insights that could be valuable not just for Ethiopia but for other countries understanding the complex landscape of health diplomacy during global health crises. This qualitative research used purposive snow balling sampling technique to identify the right participants. In-dept and KI interview was conducted both face to face and virtual, with 10 participants who had a direct involvement on the GHD efforts during the time. The data is analyzed using Atlasti.9. An inductive thematic analysis is done using the dimensions as thematic area. The results are presented under each dimension of GHD. The WHO, WB, UNICEF, GF and GAVI has been the major actors involved with major
contribution to the MOH. The most frequent opportunity mentioned for the success of the efforts was the existing partnership the MOH had with partners. The government’s commitment with allocating a huge amount of money for the pandemic response, the domestic resource mobilization and the diaspora contribution had a significant impact in the response and vaccine acquisition success. Having no proactive budget for health emergencies, the cold chain infrastructure and the global resource nationalism were the challenges MOH faced.
Unlike most other research, the results are able to provide broader and visible understanding on the efforts Ethiopia played during within the 7 dimensions of the GHD. This research outcomes can be used by decision and policy makers as a lesson learned for future pandemics to efficiently use opportunities and address challenges.
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Keywords
Global health diplomacy, Vaccine Competition, Vaccine Acquisition, Existing Partnership, Domestic resource mobilization, Digitalizing Resources Utilization Records