ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that bioethics can play a special role in global health governance. It elaborates on notion of governance' in the field of healthcare, medicine and medical research. International cooperation in the field of healthcare started in last part of the nineteenth century. Bioethics can help to reduce gaps in global governance. Governance of global health is a major challenge in today's world. Addressing health issues requires cross-border cooperation, not only between states but between a range of different agencies and actors. Global institutions such as World Health Organization (WHO) should reach out to non-state actors such as non-governmental organization (NGOs). Moreover, health depends on social and economic conditions. Health has been called the barometer of extreme poverty and inequality in the world'. Leadership is essential to direct global health governance. WHO has been criticized for lack of leadership. In 1998, a group of AIDS activists launched the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) to advocate for the right to treatment.
