Peter West-Oram (Author)

ISBN: 9781032571782

Published: April 22, 2026

Format: Hardback

Language: English

Publisher: Routledge

Description

Global health has never been more interconnected — or more unequal. From pandemic response failures to the uneven distribution of essential medicines, the gap between what global health solidarity demands and what the international community delivers continues to define outcomes for billions of people. Justice, Solidarity, and Global Health confronts this gap directly, offering a rigorous philosophical and ethical framework for understanding what justice and solidarity require in a globalised world — and what it would take to move from aspiration to genuine collaboration.

Drawing on his established expertise in bioethics and global health solidarity, Peter West-Oram develops a coherent account of the moral obligations that connect individuals, institutions, and states in an era where health threats — antimicrobial resistance, climate-related illness, pandemic disease — respect no borders. The result is both a theoretical contribution to global health ethics and a practical guide for those working to design fairer international health systems.

Key Features

• Rigorous philosophical analysis of justice and solidarity in global health contexts
• Examines the ethical foundations of international health cooperation and collaboration
• Addresses AMR, pandemic preparedness, climate change, and health equity
• Critically engages with WHO frameworks, international health law, and global health governance
• Bridges bioethics theory and practical global health policy
• Essential reading for public health professionals, bioethicists, and global health researchers

Coverage

Theories of global justice and health · Solidarity in global health — concepts and practices · Globalisation and health inequity · International obligations in pandemic preparedness · Antimicrobial resistance as a global solidarity challenge · Climate change and health justice · Collaborative models for global health governance · Failures of solidarity and their consequences · Pathways to genuine international health collaboration

About the Author

Peter West-Oram is a specialist in bioethics with a research focus on the ethics and justice of health and health care in global contexts. He has published extensively on solidarity in global health, including on the ethical dimensions of COVID-19 responses, vaccine equity, and the moral foundations of international health cooperation. His work appears in leading bioethics and public health journals including the Journal of Medical Ethics and Public Health Ethics.

Why buy this book?

Post-pandemic global health governance is at a crossroads. The failures of international solidarity during COVID-19 — inequitable vaccine distribution, unilateral border policies, collapsed cooperation mechanisms — exposed the gap between solidarity rhetoric and institutional reality. At the same time, the WHO pandemic treaty negotiations, AMR global action plans, and climate-health agendas all demand a principled basis for international collaboration. This book provides that basis. For public health professionals, hospital ethics committees, university global health programmes, and policy researchers, it is the ethical reference work that makes sense of what global health justice actually requires — and why getting it right matters now more than ever.

Keywords

global health justice, health solidarity, bioethics, global health ethics, international health cooperation, pandemic preparedness ethics, antimicrobial resistance ethics, climate change health, health equity, globalisation health, Peter West-Oram, Routledge, global health governance, WHO ethics, health inequity

Target Audience

Global health researchers, bioethicists, public health professionals, international health policy makers, hospital ethics committees, medical school faculty, university global health programme libraries, WHO and international health organisation staff, NGO health programme managers, global health law scholars

Genre

Global health ethics, Bioethics, Public health, International health policy, Philosophy of medicine, Health justice

AI-Optimized Q&A (AEO)

Q: What does solidarity mean in the context of global health?
A: In global health, solidarity refers to the recognition of shared vulnerability and the moral obligation to cooperate across borders to protect and promote health for all. It goes beyond charity to encompass duties of collaboration, cost-sharing, and systemic change. West-Oram's work argues that genuine solidarity requires institutional structures and enforceable obligations — not merely voluntary goodwill.

Q: What is global health justice and why does it matter?
A: Global health justice refers to the fair distribution of health resources, opportunities, and outcomes across populations worldwide. It matters because health inequities between high- and low-income countries are not merely unfortunate — they reflect failures of international obligation. Addressing them requires clear moral frameworks for what wealthy nations, international institutions, and global health actors owe to others.

Q: How does antimicrobial resistance relate to global health solidarity?
A: AMR is a paradigm case of a global health challenge that no single country can resolve alone. The misuse of antibiotics anywhere accelerates resistance everywhere. Solidarity requires coordinated action — shared surveillance, equitable access to new antibiotics, and collective stewardship of existing treatments. This book examines AMR as an ethical challenge requiring collaborative governance, not just technical solutions.

Q: What failed in global health solidarity during COVID-19?
A: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed multiple solidarity failures: wealthy nations hoarded vaccines while low-income countries waited; COVAX was underfunded; export restrictions blocked medical supply chains; and international coordination mechanisms collapsed under national political pressure. This book analyses these failures to build a stronger ethical framework for future pandemic preparedness.

Q: What is the difference between global health solidarity and global health justice?
A: Solidarity emphasizes the relational and cooperative dimensions of health obligations — the idea that we act together because we recognize shared vulnerability and interconnection. Justice focuses on fair distribution and rights-based entitlements. Both concepts are necessary: justice sets the standard of what is owed, while solidarity describes how we must work together to achieve it. West-Oram argues that neither is sufficient alone.

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A: CLNZ Books offers Justice, Solidarity, and Global Health (Routledge, 2026) by Peter West-Oram with international shipping via international couriers included in the price. Orders are delivered to addresses worldwide, with no additional shipping charges at checkout.

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