Historical Evolution and the Future of Global Health Security

Abstract

Health security has become an integral part of global health after many epidemics, the latest of which was the COVID-19 pandemic, from which the world is still suffering. The term “health security” was first used in the mid-twentieth century. Now that a globalized transportation industry has allowed for the mass movement of travelers and public health emergencies, such as global warming, affect everyone, “health security” has become a top priority of countries around the world. This article breaks down the stages in the development of health security as a concept and discusses them. To that end, it reviews the most prominent international and regional initiatives in the field of global health security, including the efforts of the World Health Organization (WHO). This review will help to anticipate the future development of global health security and offer some suggestions for further research. The article thus concludes with a call for countries to work together to develop a shared method of measuring health security. Whether such initiative is taken by the WHO or by low- and middle-income countries, greater collaboration is needed to discuss shared concerns and develop new strategies, particularly in the field of digital health.

Keywords

• global health security
• international health conventions
• international health regulations
• public health