Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Profit and Responsibility: The Place of the Private Sector in Disease Control
Businesses and farmers have a significantly greater responsibility to monitor,
inspect, and report outbreaks in a system where privatisation, deregulation, and
decentralisation of animal health services have eroded the governments' ability
to control and regulate emerging infectious diseases (otte
et al. 2004; osterholm
2005). It is debatable, however, whether voluntary codes of conduct can replace
mandatory regulation in the context of a looming pandemic. the private sector's
attention to the bottom line has meant that the overall record, around the world, has
not been encouraging. this has made it increasingly necessary to enlist the broad
potential of civic responsibility—including that of consumers as civic actors—to
lobby their governments and exert pressure on businesses to ensure compliance with
the minimum standards of socially responsible corporate behaviour.
Bolstering Defence from the Ground Up: The Role of Civil Society
the nature of civil society players is varied—and varies by country—but engaging
their local knowledge and global reach in avian influenza policy is crucial for
reducing cross-sectoral losses. who can best support, and often deliver, local health
care? respond to humanitarian crises? Identify farmers sidestepping regulation
because of poverty or recalcitrance? Mobilise the public in non-coercive ways? who
enjoys public trust?
Early engagement of civil society can provide legitimisation for difficult policy
choices. neither international agencies nor national governments can match the level
of public trust in civil society organisations. civil society can also play a unique
role in awareness raising, in terms of both prevention and risk management (for
example, by exposing the risk from poultry products). It can also help identify gaps
in regulation, press for compliance, and advocate for change.
but civil society's responsibility goes beyond public advocacy to include key
aspects of both implementation and delivery. Many developing countries depend
on health-related nGos to make up for their own institutional weakness and
impaired public health delivery. civil society is essential for the sustainability of
technical assistance by ensuring that aid can actually be absorbed by national health
authorities—and translated into real care (Kuchenbecker 2004). civil society is
also a source of expertise, analysis, and policy formulation, and makes a significant
contribution to public policy debates.
with their grassroots engagement and their function as a channel for community-
based knowledge, civil society organisations also often have a clearer picture of human
and technical needs and capacities. this means that public or private partnerships
with community groups can significantly increase returns on health and agricultural
investment. civil society actors also perform disease surveillance, which is a key
component in the fight against pandemics. When the chinese government refused
to disclose the magnitude of the SarS outbreak, it was the wHo's ability to tap the
