Health as a National Security Issue
by Samina Uddin, Features Editor on April 29, 2009 in Features
“A healthy society is truly a more secure society,” said IOP Fellow Dr. Howard Zucker during a recent session of his study group, “Health as a National Security Issue.”
The former assistant director-general and representative of the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Zucker is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Council for Emerging National Security Affairs.
According to Dr. Zucker, the problems of national insecurity, and the lack of accessible, equitable, and affordable health care, are mutually reinforcing.
On the one hand, insecurity can lead to a higher incidence of poverty, which in turn can exclude people from healthcare systems. Insecurity can also lead to violence, which prevents people from traveling to hospitals and clinics, and discourages health care professionals from practicing in unsafe environments. Insecure societies also tend to be more secretive, which can impede the sharing of health data and information on the spread of diseases.
On the other hand, a poor health care system, with restricted and unequal access, can itself foster instability in a country. Individuals in poor health have a harder time becoming educated and obtaining and maintaining employment. The poverty that results can, in certain societies, lead to civil unrest.
In addition to insecurity and poor health systems, global pandemics and the potential for bioterrorism also continue to threaten world health. Dr. Zucker noted the frequency with which pandemics afflict world populations, citing recent examples such as HIV/AIDS, SARS, and H5N1 avian influenza. Recalling the October 2001 anthrax scare, he also cautioned against complacency on bioterrorism.
Addressing all of these problems, said Dr. Zucker, requires a global approach. “Weak nation-states must not be left aside…we should be worried about all parts of the world, whether the danger originates from a non-natural or natural issue.”
He noted recent efforts by the WHO to develop a global outbreak alert and response network. In a recent report, moreover, the WHO put forth several recommendations for addressing global pandemics and related problems, including, among others, the need for full implementation of international health regulations by all countries, global cooperation in surveillance and outbreak alerts, and open sharing of knowledge of technology and materials (including viruses).
On the question of whether organizations such as the Gates Foundation offer a better avenue for advancing global health initiatives, particularly given their human and financial resources, Dr. Zucker believes that the WHO is a superior instrument for collecting together all of the world leaders and brokering agreement among them.
“If you don’t have the cash, you better have the cachet,” he said “And that’s what the WHO has: the ability to convene bodies and be viewed as an independent authority on issues of health.”
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