Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
chapter 16
John J. Kirton and andrew F. cooper
the chapters in this volume explore a wide range of physical challenges, public
responses, and governance innovation regarding the major diseases that largely define
the field of global health today. Amidst this rich detail and diversity, several patterns
stand out. They largely affirm the central argument of this volume that in today's
world where the new vulnerability dominates, the old formulas of westphalian
governance have failed and a new generation of innovation from many actors is
emerging to take its place. but while the new vulnerability provides an increasingly
powerful driver, a new world of institutionalised innovativeness and multi-centred
sovereignty has yet to replace the westphalian order of old. as a result people still
die unnecessarily in large numbers all over the planet, as the struggle to produce
global health governance appropriate for the 21st century goes on.
this chapter charts the main patterns that sustain these conclusions, following
the analytical framework outlined in the introduction (see appendix 16-1); these
conclusions have been developed and tested on the basis of the case studies presented
in this topic. The chapter looks irst at the challenge brought by globalised health
threats in today's 21st-century world. It then examines the responses of the wide
array of public actors now involved in global health. It next explores the innovations
produced by these responses to the new challenges. It concludes by assessing the
responsiveness, appropriateness, and effectiveness of the current system of global
health governance and its movement toward a post-westphalian form.
Challenge: The New Globalised Threat
there is overwhelming consensus among the contributors to this volume that the
physical challenges to global health are great and growing as the globalising world
of the 21st century unfolds. to be sure, there is considerable progress on some fronts,
and new data and measurement methods suggest some hope in the long war against
HIv/aIDS. but with the possible exception of severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SarS), there has yet to be another success such as smallpox, with a major killer
successfully banished for good. and after a quarter century of the campaign against
HIv/aIDS, it remains without the preventive vaccines that those fighting polio and
even avian influenza possess.
