Increasing transparency would help China strengthen its role in global health development

Writing in the Center for Global Development's (CGD) blog, Victoria Fan, a research fellow at CGD, describes a panel session during the 4th Conference of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) recently held in Washington, D.C. "The speakers briefly discussed China's history in international health activities ..., different kinds of partnerships in global health -- particularly among universities, and examples of current and upcoming initiatives," but "none of the distinguished panel members had an answer" about the size of global health assistance to Africa from China, she says. "Given China's well-established and growing role in global health, the need to accurately describe the scale and scope of the country's health aid internationally and to Africa is increasingly important," Fan writes, adding, "If the Chinese government becomes more transparent on its contributions to global health ..., China will strengthen its role as an emerging leader in global health and help to ensure that country allocations are optimized to achieve global goals for disease control" (3/29).