scholarly journals Threat not solution: gender, global health security and COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Harman
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Global Health Security ◽  
Pandemic Preparedness ◽  
Health Security ◽  
High Profile ◽  
The People ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract COVID-19 had led to long overdue visibility of the gendered determinants and impacts of health emergencies and global health security. This article explores why gender was neglected in previous health emergencies, what led to change in visibility of gender issues during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the implications of such change for understanding the relationship between gender and global health security. The article explores the question of neglect by drawing on original research into the 2014–16 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, its aftermath and implications for future pandemic preparedness. The article then looks in detail at the research efforts, funding, epistemic community activism and impact of COVID-19 to explain why gender received high profile political attention and acknowledgment. The article argues that the change in visibility, research and advocacy around gender equality during the COVID-19 outbreak does not demonstrate an advancement in gender equality in global health. To the contrary, such visibility reinforces the inherent problems of global health security evident in the 2014–16 Ebola outbreak that create and reproduce binaries of neglect and visibility, and hierarchies of the global health issues that matter, the people that matter and the women that matter. What unites neglect and visibility of gender in global health security is that gender is understood as solution rather than threat. Combined these factors make gender equality incompatible with global health security.

scholarly journals The oversecuritization of global health: changing the terms of debate

2019 ◽  
Vol 95 (5) ◽  
pp. 1093-1110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Wenham
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Global Health Security ◽  
Security Threat ◽  
Security Issue ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Rhetorical Device ◽  
Community Needs ◽  
Health Community ◽  
The Individual

Abstract Linking health and security has become a mainstream approach to health policy issues over the past two decades. So much so that the discourse of global health security has become close to synonymous with global health, their meanings being considered almost interchangeable. While the debates surrounding the health–security nexus vary in levels of analysis from the global to the national to the individual, this article argues that the consideration of health as a security issue, and the ensuing path dependencies, have shifted in three ways. First, the concept has been broadened to the extent that a multitude of health issues (and others) are constructed as threats to health security. Second, securitizing health has moved beyond a rhetorical device to include the direct involvement of the security sector. Third, the performance of health security has become a security threat in itself. These considerations, the article argues, alter the remit of the global health security narrative; the global health community needs to recognize this shift and adapt its use of security-focused policies accordingly.

scholarly journals Developing an Innovative Pandemic Treaty to Advance Global Health Security

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 503-508
Author(s):  
Lawrence O. Gostin ◽  
Benjamin Mason Meier ◽  
Barbara Stocking
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Global Health Security ◽  
Pandemic Preparedness ◽  
Health Security ◽  
State Obligations ◽  
Health Organization

AbstractRecognizing marked limitations of global health law in the COVID-19 pandemic, a rising number of states are supporting the development of a new pandemic treaty. This prospective treaty has the potential to clarify state obligations for pandemic preparedness and response and strengthen World Health Organization authorities to promote global health security. Examining the essential scope and content of a pandemic treaty, this column analyzes the policymaking processes and substantive authorities necessary to meet this historic moment.

Theorizing Feminist Health Security

2021 ◽  
pp. 31-52
Author(s):  
Clare Wenham
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Feminist Theory ◽  
Security Analysis ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Global Health Security ◽  
Pandemic Preparedness ◽  
Health Security

This chapter conceptualises global health security, discussing its genesis and how it has been theorised. First, the chapter establishes that global health security has failed to consider women and the gendered impact of securitised health policy then conversely, explores how feminists have contended with other security debates, through analysing the sub-discipline of feminist security studies (FSS). FSS seeks to understand women within the security terrain but has yet to consider global health as an area of security analysis. The chapter demonstrates why it is so vital to develop a dialogue between feminist theory and global health security for meaningful development in pandemic preparedness and response activities. It also provides a springboard for the following empirical chapters which engage with a range of further feminist concepts to explore the empirical case of Zika and highlight the need to engage with feminist approaches in order to develop a more comprehensive response to health emergencies and ensure truly global health security.

scholarly journals Pandemics on the Radar Screen: Health Security, Infectious Disease and the Medicalisation of Insecurity

2011 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 848-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Elbe
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
International System ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Global Health Security ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Radar Screen ◽  
Contemporary Practice

How is the rise of global health security transforming contemporary practices of security? To date the literature on global health security has sought to trace how the securitisation of global health is affecting the governance of diseases in the international system; yet no-one has analysed – conversely – how the practices of security also begin subtly to change when they become concerned with a growing number of contemporary health issues. This article identifies three such changes. First, health security debates endow our understandings of security and insecurity in contemporary world politics with an important medical dimension. Second, the rise of global health security enables a range of medical and public health experts to play a greater role in the formulation and analysis of contemporary security policy. Finally, health security debates have also encouraged attempts to secure populations through recourse to a growing array of pharmacological interventions and new medical countermeasures. Drawing upon a rich literature in medical sociology, these three transformations in the contemporary practice of security collectively constitute the ‘medicalisation of security’. This novel perspective on the rise of global health security also reveals new limitations inherent in the emerging health–security interface – limitations associated not so much with the processes of ‘securitisation’ already noted in the global health literature, but rather with wider social processes of ‘medicalisation’. Awareness of the additional limitations renders the threat of a future pandemic even more serious than is commonly thought.

scholarly journals Revisiting Global Health Security Measures in COVID 19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 407-410
Author(s):  
Suneela Garg ◽  
Nidhi Bhatnagar ◽  
Ekta Arora ◽  
Pradeep Aggarwal
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Security Measures ◽  
Global Health Security ◽  
Pandemic Preparedness ◽  
Global Village ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Health Events ◽  
The World ◽  
Global Impacts ◽  
Stability Issues

As the world has become a global village with increasing socio-economic interdependence, health, security and stability issues are imposing interrelated global impacts. Thus, activities supporting epidemic and pandemic preparedness are needed to minimize vulnerability to acute public health events. Coordination mechanisms must be pre-established for diagnostics, therapeutics and research as emergencies often lead to competition and shortage of resources. This paper attempts to discuss the available global health security measures at the time of COVID 19 pandemic.

scholarly journals Global health security and universal health coverage: Understanding convergences and divergences for a synergistic response

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. e0244555
Author(s):  
Yibeltal Assefa ◽  
Peter S. Hill ◽  
Charles F. Gilks ◽  
Wim Van Damme ◽  
Remco van de Pas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Universal Health Coverage ◽  
Coefficient Of Determination ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
Global Health Security ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Synergistic Response ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Universal Health ◽  
And Child Health

Background Global health security (GHS) and universal health coverage (UHC) are key global health agendas which aspire for a healthier and safer world. However, there are tensions between GHS and UHC strategy and implementation. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between GHS and UHC using two recent quantitative indices. Methods We conducted a macro-analysis to determine the presence of relationship between GHS index (GHSI) and UHC index (UHCI). We calculated Pearson’s correlation coefficient and the coefficient of determination. Analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 25 with a 95% level of confidence. Findings There is a moderate and significant relationship between GHSI and UHCI (r = 0.662, p<0.001) and individual indices of UHCI (maternal and child health and infectious diseases: r = 0.623 (p<0.001) and 0.594 (p<0.001), respectively). However, there is no relationship between GHSI and the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) index (r = 0.063, p>0.05). The risk of GHS threats a significant and negative correlation with the capacity for GHS (r = -0.604, p<0.001) and the capacity for UHC (r = -0.792, p<0.001). Conclusion The aspiration for GHS will not be realized without UHC; hence, the tension between these two global health agendas should be transformed into a synergistic solution. We argue that strengthening the health systems, in tandem with the principles of primary health care, and implementing a “One Health” approach will progressively enable countries to achieve both UHC and GHS towards a healthier and safer world that everyone aspires to live in.

scholarly journals The Global Health Security Index is not predictive of coronavirus pandemic responses among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enoch J Abbey ◽  
Banda A. A Khalifa ◽  
Modupe O. Oduwole ◽  
Samuel K. Ayeh ◽  
Richard D. Nudotor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Economic Cooperation ◽  
Global Health Security ◽  
Pandemic Preparedness ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Actual Performance ◽  
Ripple Effects ◽  
Detailed Assessment ◽  
Security Index

ABSTRACT The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has devastated many countries with ripple effects felt in various sectors of the global economy. In November 2019, the Global Health Security (GHS) Index was released as the first detailed assessment and benchmarking of 195 countries to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats. This paper presents the first comparison of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD countries' performance during the pandemic, with the pre-COVID-19 pandemic preparedness as determined by the GHS Index. Using a rank-based analysis, four indices were compared between select countries, including total cases, total deaths, recovery rate, and total tests performed, all standardized for comparison. Our findings suggest a discrepancy between the GHS index rating and the actual performance of countries during this pandemic, with an overestimation of the preparedness of some countries scoring highly on the GHS index and underestimation of the preparedness of other countries with relatively lower scores on the GHS index.

scholarly journals Should Mumps Be Higher Up on the Public Health Agenda in India? A Concern for Global Health Security

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Syed Kadri ◽  
Saleem-ur Rehman ◽  
Kausar Rehana ◽  
Ailbhe Brady ◽  
Vijay Chattu
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Health Problem ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
The Body ◽  
Routine Immunization ◽  
World Health ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Global Health Security ◽  
Health Security

Mumps is a public health problem on a global scale caused by mumps virus, a member of family paramyxoviridae. An effective form of vaccination exists and is incorporated into routine immunization schedules in over 100 countries, usually in the form of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine. This is not the case in India, as mumps is not viewed as a significant enough public health problem by the government to warrant such an intervention. This original research paper discusses about outbreaks of mumps in Kashmir, India and aims to add to the body of literature to support the routine immunization with the mumps vaccine. From July to September 2017, there were 15 outbreaks and 260 cases of mumps recorded in the region by the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP). We conclude that the Indian Government should include the MMR vaccination in the Universal Immunization Programme. This would result in clinical and economic benefits by reducing outbreaks and associated morbidity of mumps, in addition to tackling the recognized morbidity and mortality of rubella and measles. To support the global health security, there is a great need to strengthen surveillance, adhere to the World Health Organization’s International Health Regulations (IHRs), and pay attention to emerging and re-emerging infectious agents, including paramyxovirus group.

scholarly journals Pandemic Preparedness and Public Health Expenditure

Economies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
Noura Eissa
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Health Expenditure ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Global Health Security ◽  
Pandemic Preparedness ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Public Health Expenditure ◽  
Time Element

The motive behind this article is investigating alternative indicator measures for the effectiveness of public health expenditure on pandemic preparedness, to explain the reasons behind country variations in containing crises such as Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The purpose is to analyse the shortcomings in the relationship between global public health expenditure and pandemic preparedness. The research methodology includes a macro-analysis of global health spending patterns, empirical and theoretical literature on global health expenditure, global health security indexes, and country case studies pre- and post-crisis. The results show that gaps in pandemic preparedness were already existent pre-COVID-19, calling for a new mind-set in the way public health expenditure is structured. Healthcare sustainability indicators should transition from traditional measures such as economic growth rates, public health expenditure rates, revenue coming from the healthcare sector, and rankings in the global health security index, to new awareness indicators. Public health expenditure, a facilitator of pandemic preparedness, coupled with the resilience of healthcare systems, could be used in conjunction with the traditional factors, along with the time element of a quick response to pandemic through preparedness schemes, the progress towards achieving sustainable health through the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and investment in national healthcare capital to ensure efficient resource allocation. The policy recommendations are the restructuring of public expenditure to expand the absorptive capacities of healthcare institutes, eventually leading to sustainability and universal health insurance.

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