Overview
This hub now houses insights from the first two waves of an ambitious project which began in late 2023. Our updated analysis for 2025 gives insight on the current opinion landscape and clarity on how to use it to communicate about global health most effectively. Better understanding of today’s rapidly evolving environment means better navigation.
Questions we're asking
Q1
What are the issues that people around the world care about most today?
Q2
Where does global health feature in the current issue landscape? And how are efforts to address health issues globally perceived?
Q3
How can we best make the case for investing to tackle health issues globally?
Global insight
This research, conducted across 15 countries in 2024 and 2025, integrates focus group, and survey research, together with media and social media analysis, to give a snapshot of the current global mood, perceptions of health issues and insight into effective messaging.
Across the two research waves, 14,000 people globally were surveyed.
The research covers high, middle, lower-middle, and low-income countries.
Global Mood
Finding
There is a shared global mood of negativity, but “emerging powers” (India, Indonesia) stand out as engines of optimism.
Implication
The recent experience of development and greater positivity in emerging powers can be a useful counterpoint to negativity and pessimism in the development debate in donor markets.
Aid Dynamics
Finding
While overseas aid is under pressure in donor countries, in “emerging powers” there is support for countries to play a bigger and different role in development beyond traditional aid dynamics.
Implication
In the context of diminishing support for aid in traditional donor markets, emerging powers can bring a fresh energy and new approaches to development.
Progress On Global Health
Finding
As was observed in wave 1, there remains greater positivity and optimism about health progress, than global progress in general.
Implication
Health is a more effective entry point than a more general development framing.
Global Health Messaging
Finding
As found in wave 1, the strongest arguments for investing to tackle health globally continue to include themes of “micro” economic self-sufficiency and global health security.
Implication
When making the case for tackling health issues globally, we need to meet people where they are and tap into the issues they care about.
Messengers
Finding
Results show the value of Global South voices as messengers in donor market communications.
Implication
Engaging more Global South voices in donor market communications can increase the impact of our messaging.
Recipient Framing
Finding
An “active contributor” framing of aid recipients prompts a more positive reaction than “passive recipient” framings.
Implication
By framing aid recipients as active contributors, we can positively change how individuals, projects and organizations are seen.
Resources
Health Perceptions – Wave 1 report July 2024
PDF 5 MB
Health Perceptions – Wave 2 report April 2025
PDF 3 MB