Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Ultimately, global scarcity of the influenza vaccine is only marginally relevant
to most of the world's 6 billion people, who would go unvaccinated, even though
Yet national pandemic influenza preparedness, by its nature, is an international
issue: in a world lacking equitable access to the cure, even the vaccinated would
face devastation if the global economy were to stop in its tracks (osterholm 2005).
Instead of hoarding the vaccine, the west ought to release it to the most vulnerable,
because the regions the first to be hit would also be the first line of defence. Thus the
whole world must rely on the wealthy countries enlightened self-interest to develop
a vaccine against this pandemic virus—a complex and costly undertaking (wHo
2005)—and to share it first with the poor.
not only is stockpiling ineffective from the standpoint of global containment, but
it is not even feasible: a true pandemic vaccine (which must match the actual strain
of the virus) must wait for its onset, while virtually every other piece of medical
detract from the need to invest in broader preparedness plans (see butler 2005).
Threat Perceptions: Reframing Public Health and Infectious Disease Control
Up to this point, discussion has centred on the significant structural obstacles to
implementing a global action plan in the context of limited state capacity or traditional
farming practices. but the problem of ideational discrepancies or divergent priorities
must also not be underestimated. Different stakeholders approach the issue of human
influenza from different angles, which need to be reconciled in order to develop a plan
that is truly global in nature and executable in practice. In this section, the dominant
perspectives on global public health are considered—namely, developmental, human
rights, security, and environmental—focussing on what each has to contribute to our
understanding of the impending challenges.
The Human Development Paradigm: Locating Avian Influenza on the Development
Agenda
The growing attention to avian influenza outbreaks in southeast asia could help
galvanise action. but it could also crowd out the broader public health strategies
needed for long-term sustainability. among the key questions facing national and
international public health authorities is the issue of how to launch a global influenza
action plan that would simultaneously strengthen public health infrastructures in
poor countries. Global health problems must be addressed within a multi-sectoral
approach consistent with the MDGs, while any health plan ought to be set in motion
with complementary global action plans in education, environment, water, and
imperatives in a single policy framework, making it evident that broad systemic and
