Global Health

BackgroundGlobal health diplomacy (GHD) is a burgeoning field bridging the priorities of global health and foreign affairs. Given the increasing need to mobilize disparate global health stakeholders coupled with the need to design complex public health partnerships to tackle issues of international concern, effective and timely cooperation among state actors is critical. Health Attach\ue9s represent this coordination focal point and are key diplomatic professionals at the forefront of GHD. Despite their unique mandate, little is published about this profession and the perspectives of those who work in the field.MethodsThrough purposive sampling, we performed in-depth qualitative interviews with seven Health Attach\ue9s: three foreign Health Attach\ue9s accredited to the United States and four U.S. Health Attach\ue9s accredited to foreign governments. Our interviews explored four key topics: the role and mission of Health Attach\ue9s, skills needed to perform GHD, examples of successes and challenges in accomplishing their respective missions, and suggestions for the future development of the diplomatic profession.ResultsWe identified several lessons to apply to the growing field of GHD. First, GHD actors need to receive appropriate training to successfully negotiate the intersection of global health and foreign affairs. Participants suggested several areas of training that would benefit GHD actors: diplomacy and negotiation, applied science, and cross-cultural competency. Second, participants articulated the need for a career path for GHD practitioners, increased opportunities for on-the-job training and mentored experiences, and GHD competencies with defined levels of mastery that can be used in occupational evaluation and career development.ConclusionsOur findings indicate that skills in diplomacy and negotiation, applied science, and cross cultural competency are essential for the statecraft of Health Attach\ue9s. Additionally, establishing a clear career pathway for Health Attach\ue9s is critical for future maturation of the profession and for fostering effective global health action that aligns public health and foreign diplomacy outcomes. Achieving these goals would ensure that this special cadre of diplomats could effectively practice GHD and would also better position Health Attach\ue9s to take the lead in advancing shared global health goals among nation states in a new era of twenty-first century diplomacy.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12992-017-0316-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.2018-01-11T00:00:00Z29325574PMC576561