ABSTRACT
Most Asian 1 countries have been relatively passive players in global governance for health – more often the recipients than the funders of global health assistance, and more often the subjects than the shapers of global health policy. Powerful countries such as the People's Republic of China and India, of course, exercise considerable diplomatic (Huang, 2010) and political power (Chan et al., 2008). China, for example, has bolstered its economic presence through financing and concessional loans for infrastructure projects and large economic investments in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia (Lum et al., 2009). Still, Asian impact on global institutions such as the World Health Organization (WHO), World Trade Organization (WTO), and Global Fund has not risen to the level that it could.
