Global health governance coordinates actions to protect health across borders. Which two entities are key players besides the WHO?

• A. The Gates Foundation and UNICEF
• B. The World Bank and GAVI
• C. The IMF and WTO
• D. Greenpeace and FIFA

Answer: (B)

Global health governance relies on partners that can fund, scale, and deliver health interventions across countries, in addition to the normative guidance provided by WHO. The World Bank fits this role by providing substantial financing for health systems, programs, and policy reforms, helping countries invest in care infrastructure, workforce, and services. GAVI the Vaccine Alliance adds the crucial piece of immunization: it mobilizes funds, negotiates vaccine prices, strengthens supply chains, and supports national immunization programs so vaccines reach children at scale. Together with WHO’s standards and technical guidance, they form a powerful, complementary triad that moves global health goals into action—financing, vaccines, and governance, rather than just policy debate or advocacy.

Other options include actors that are influential but not the same type of global health governance players. A major philanthropic foundation and a UN agency like UNICEF contribute to health in important ways, but the combination of a global financing institution and a vaccine alliance best represents the two entities most central to broad health financing and program delivery on a global scale. Institutions focused on trade or macroeconomics, like IMF or WTO, influence health indirectly, and groups outside the health arena, such as Greenpeace or FIFA, do not primarily drive global health governance.