global health security

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the activities required, both proactive and reactive, to minimise the vulnerability of human populations to acute public health events that endanger collective health across geographical regions and international boundaries, including infectious disease outbreaks, biological incidents, chemical or radiological events, and the public health consequences of natural disasters; the global health security framework emerged formally with the revision of the International Health Regulations in 2005 and was strengthened after the 2009 H1N1 pandemic and particularly after the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic exposed catastrophic gaps in global preparedness; the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), launched in 2014, is a partnership of over 70 nations, international organisations, and non-governmental actors committed to building and demonstrating core capacities to prevent, detect, and respond to biological threats; global health security increasingly addresses the nexus between animal health, human health, and environmental health — the One Health approach — recognising that most emerging infectious diseases originate in animals

Examples

• The Global Health Security Index assessed national preparedness capacities across 195 countries, finding that no country was fully prepared for a pandemic.
• Global health security investments after Ebola were insufficient to prevent COVID-19's catastrophic global spread, demonstrating the chronic underfunding of preparedness between outbreaks.

Synonyms: health security, GHS, biosecurity