Global health security: conceptual diversity, problematizations and alternative approaches

Käsitteen moninaisuus, kiistanalaisuus ja vaihtoehtoiset lähestymistavat

Authors

• Maisa Borg Tampereen yliopisto

Keywords:

COVID-19, global health, health security, securitization, World Health Organization

Abstract

Health and security have been interconnected since international health cooperation's early days. That said, the entanglements between health and security have tightened considerably in the twenty-first century. What’s more, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the linkages between the two more than ever before. In the discipline of International Relations, GHS has been studied particularly from the perspective of securitization theory, focusing on the securitization of health. On the other hand, framing health as a security issue has also received ample criticism. This article sheds light on the conceptual diversity of GHS and details the problematizations related to it. At the core of the concept and the debates surrounding it are normative questions about whose security and health matter most and what health and security mean more broadly. Why are they sought after and for whom is it possible?