Why is repositioning public health innovation towards a social paradigm necessary? A reflection on the field of public health through the examples of Ebola and Covid-19

Bibliographic Data

ID19533910
AuthorsMariétou Niang (0000-0002-3487-9450, Université Laval, corresponding author), Sophie Dupéré (0000-0002-5035-2851, Université Laval), Hassane Alami (0000-0002-5461-7693, Université de Montréal), Marie‐pierre Gagnon (0000-0002-0782-5457, Université Laval)
Year2021
Volume17
Issue1
Pages46-46
Publication date2021-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGlobalization and Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1744-8603 • E-ISSN: 1744-8603
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1186/s12992-021-00695-3
PMID33853631
OpenAlexW3156347834
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited64

Health innovations are generally oriented on a techno-economic vision. In this perspective, technologies are seen as an end in themselves, and there is no arrangement between the technical and the social values of innovation. This vision prevails in sanitary crises, in which management is carried out based on the search for punctual, reactive, and technical solutions to remedy a specific problem without a systemic/holistic, sustainable, or proactive approach. This paper attempts to contribute to the literature on the epistemological orientation of innovations in the field of public health. Taking the Covid-19 and Ebola crises as examples, the primary objective is to show how innovation in health is oriented towards a techno-economic paradigm. Second, we propose a repositioning of public health innovation towards a social paradigm that will put more emphasis on the interaction between social and health dimensions in the perspective of social change. We will conclude by highlighting the roles that public health could play in allowing innovations to have more social value, especially during sanitary crises

Medical sociology · Political science · Public health · Public relations · Social determinants of health · Sociology · Computer Science · Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology · Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life · Medicine · Zoonotic diseases and public health · Health Policy