SARS : governance and the globalization of disease / David P. Fidler.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fidler, David P.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

SARS (Disease)--Government policy.

SARS (Disease).

SARS (Disease)--Epidemiology.

Epidemiology.

Government policy.

Physical Description:

xvii, 219 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.

Summary:

The global SARS outbreak of 2003 was a frightening reminder of the power of the microbial world to threaten human populations. In SARS, Governance and the Globalization of Disease, David P. Fidler provides the first comprehensive analysis of the SARS outbreak and how it was successfully managed by the global effort led by the World Health Organization. Fidler argues that SARS was the first dangerous pathogen to emerge into a radically new governance context, which enabled the global effort against SARS to achieve an historic victory. This victory included both the successful management of a global outbreak of a dangerous pathogen and the dramatic battle to control the disease in China in the face of serious impediments created by the Chinese government. With SARS and other pathogenic threats still looming, this book makes a significant and timely contribution to understanding humanity's ongoing struggle with the microbial world.

Contents:

1 Introduction: The Importance of the SARS Outbreak 1

The coughs heard round the world 1

An epidemic of 'firsts' 3

SARS and the governance of global infectious disease threats 6

SARS as the first post-Westphalian pathogen 7

A political pathology of SARS 8

Part I Westphalian and Post-Westphalian Public Health 11

2 Of Germs and Borders 13

Pathogens without passports 13

The politics of passports 16

Pathogens within politics 18

3 Public Health and the Westphalian System of International Politics 21

The world according to Westphalia 21

The Westphalian system 22

Westphalian governance principles 23

The politics of Westphalian governance 25

Westphalian public health 26

Westphalian public health in action: The International Health Regulations 32

The collapse of the classical regime 35

From Westphalian public health towards what? 41

4 Public Health in the Post-Westphalian System of Global Politics 42

Microbes on the march 42

The shock of the new: Crafting post-Westphalian public health 46

New process, new substance 48

Beyond state-centrism: Global health governance 50

Beyond the national interest: Global public goods for health 57

Revision of the International Health Regulations: The de-Westphalianization of the classical regime 60

Post-Westphalian worries 68

Part II The SARS Outbreak and Post-Westphalian Public Health 69

5 Brief History of the Global SARS Outbreak of 2002-03 71

An epidemic unfolds before the global society 71

Sometime before November 2002: Animal to human, Guangdong Province? 71

November 2002 to February 2003: Outbreak in Guangdong Province 73

February 2003: Guangdong, Hong Kong, Hanoi 76

March 2003: A world-wide health threat 77

April 2003: The crisis deepens 87

May 2003: Turning the corner 99

June 2003: 'Stopped dead in its tracks' 104

6 China Confronts Public Health's 'New World Order' 106

How the victory was won 106

China: Epidemiological and governance epicenter 107

China, SARS, and Westphalian public health 107

Westphalian sovereignty v. global health governance 114

National interest v. global public goods for health 126

SARS, China, and Taiwan 129

7 Beyond China: Lessons from SARS for Post-Westphalian Public Health 132

Strengthening global health governance on infectious diseases 132

The power of global public goods for health 145

Elevating public health as a national political priority 148

Reinforcing the public health-human rights linkage 151

All's well that ends well? 155

8 SARS and Vulnerabilities of Post-Westphalian Public Health 156

The other side of the Rubicon 156

Crossing prior Rubicons: The fate of previous governance innovations in international infectious disease control 157

Rubicons not crossed: The limited applicability of WHO's new global alert power 162

Stagnation after crossing: The sustainability of post-Westphalian governance 166

Crossing with baggage: Public health's Westphalian core 170

Realpolitik over the Rubicon: Post-Westphalian public health and the great powers 174

Germs don't recognize Rubicons: Confronting the axis of illness 179

9 Conclusion: Governing Infectious Diseases in Globalized Anarchy 186

The tipping point 186

The new way of working 189.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 192-208) and index.

ISBN:

140393326X

OCLC:

53951795