Measuring Global Health: An International Workshop on the Political, Social and Ethical Aspects of Metrics and Quantification Practices in Global Health

26-27 January 2017, King’s College London | Organisers: David Reubi (KCL), Kerry Holden (QMUL), Tobias Rees (McGill) and George Weisz (McGill) | Funding: Wellcome Trust.

Metrics and quantification practices have become ubiquitous in the field of global health today. Indeed, the consultation of large epidemiological surveys like the Global Burden of Disease has become unavoidable when identifying new global health problems. Similarly, reference to cost-effectiveness metrics is increasingly common when deciding what health interventions to fund. And, most global health initiatives are built around numerical targets and strict accountability procedures. But how are these metrics produced? What are the political discourses, institutional infrastructure and statistical techniques that make quantification in global health possible? What do these metrics count and what is excluded? What types of numerical evidence have more political traction? And, how do metrics transform the way global health advocacy, politics and management is done? A joint venture between King’s College London, McGill University and Queen Mary University of London, this international workshop brings epidemiologists and public health experts together with social scientists and historians, to examine these and other questions related to metrics and quantification in global health.

For more information on the workshop, please contact Dr David Reubi (david.reubi@kcl.ac.uk).