Akhavein Delaram, Sheel Meru, Abimbola Seye
Faculty of Medicine and Health, Sydney School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Glob Health Res Policy. 2025 Jan 3;10(1):1. doi: 10.1186/s41256-024-00394-7.
There is a growing tendency in global discourse to describe a health issue as a security issue. But why is this health security language and framing necessary during times of crisis? Why is the term "health security" used when perhaps simply saying "public health" would do? As reference to 'health security' grows in contemporary discourse, research, advocacy, and policymaking, its prominence is perhaps most consequential in public health. Existing power dynamics in global health are produced and maintained through political processes. Securitisation of health, which facilitates urgent and exceptional measures in response to an event, is a politically charged process with the tendency to further marginalise already marginalised individuals, groups, and nations. By exploring the ethical and practical consequences of a powerful actor's move to securitise health, the essay highlights the importance of considering the perspectives and well-being of marginalised individuals, groups and nations who may be impacted by the move. The essay challenges the assumption that securitising health or framing health as a security issue necessarily leads to good outcomes. It highlights the historical roots and explores the contemporary implications of "health security", and invites critically informed discourse on its use within global health.
在全球话语中，将健康问题描述为安全问题的趋势日益增强。但在危机时期，为何这种健康安全的语言和框架是必要的呢？为什么在或许简单说“公共卫生”就足够的情况下，还要使用“健康安全”这个术语呢？随着“健康安全”在当代话语、研究、宣传和政策制定中的提及越来越多，它在公共卫生领域的突出地位或许最为重要。全球卫生领域现有的权力动态是通过政治进程产生和维持的。将健康安全化，即促成针对某一事件采取紧急和特殊措施，是一个充满政治意味的过程，往往会进一步边缘化那些已经处于边缘地位的个人、群体和国家。通过探讨一个强大行为体将健康安全化举措的伦理和实际后果，本文强调了考虑可能受该举措影响的边缘化个人、群体和国家的观点和福祉的重要性。本文对将健康安全化或将健康框架为安全问题必然会带来良好结果这一假设提出了质疑。它突出了“健康安全”的历史根源并探讨了其当代影响，并邀请在全球卫生领域内对其使用进行有批判性依据的讨论。
