World Health Organization & Disease Outbreak Control

“…the personal and professional experiences of those in leadership positions within the WHO have played a key role in shaping the direction of the organization – sometimes to the benefit and at times to the detriment of the international organization’s reputation.”

“…the control and eradication of infectious diseases, security and the WHO have been intimately connected since the organization’s founding. At the time when the international organization’s constitutive treaty was being negotiated in 1946, the focus was on using health as an apolitical vehicle for ensuring peace – health was a means to achieving security, or health-for-security. Over time, however, and by the arrival of the new millennium, worldviews had perceptibly shifted, with the outcome being that health was increasingly viewed as a legitimate security objective in itself – health has become synonymous with security, or health-as-security. Associated with this change – which has come about as a result of the technological advances in transport, population increases, environmental change, intensification of agricultural practices, and altered land pattern use – has been the recognition that epidemics and pandemics will likely prove to be a regular feature of human existence for many years to come. In view of that reality, as the directing and coordinating authority in international health matters the WHO will continue to play a large role in managing such events…”

Kamradt-Scott, A. Managing Global Health Security: The World Health Organization and Disease Outbreak Control. Palgrave Macmillan UK. Kindle Edition. 2015.