Health Security and Equity: A Global Health Histories Perspective

Abstract

The historiography of international health after the Second World War is now extremely well populated and rich. And yet, this body of work remains stubbornly and peculiarly focussed upon the views and actions of relatively small numbers of people within North America and Western Europe, even when the events and activities being described relate to regions and countries further afield. The biggest problem in this body of work is rooted in unmoving assumptions about the importance of a small set of nations in the post-war era and insufficiently tested presumptions about their dominance over the negotiations that led to the creation of new post-war institutions (such as the United Nations). Post-war agencies are, in turn, described simplistically, where their Europe- and USA-based headquarters are presented as all powerful and capable of dictating actions of representatives located all over the world; this is done with suspiciously limited research, with almost no attention being paid to the birth of regional and national branches of UN organisations, and their intricate negotiations with governments of newly independent, assertive countries who were willing to invest heavily, both financially and through new international alliances, in the modernisation of health, science and technology. This chapter will highlight alternative perspectives to understand how to better manage global health risks from pandemics like COVID-19.

Citation

Bhattacharya, S. (2021), "Health Security and Equity: A Global Health Histories Perspective", Chatterji, M. and Gangopadhyay, P. (Ed.) New Frontiers in Conflict Management and Peace Economics: With a Focus on Human Security (Contributions to Conflict Management, Peace Economics and Development, Vol. 29), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 127-131. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1572-832320210000029009