Bulletin of the World Health Organization
Volume 85, Number 3, March 2007

http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/85/3/en/index.html

Theme issue: health and foreign policy

The rise of health as a foreign policy concern has become a 
hallmark of a globalized world. In their editorial, Nick Drager 
& David Fidler introduce this theme issue on health and foreign 
policy by discussing some of the complex and contentious matters 
involved. Globalization has broken down some of the traditional 
separation between the medical, economic, political and 
technological means of improving health. The authors urge 
policy-makers to recognize the vital links between these areas 
and to coordinate their policies on trade and health more 
closely. In a perspective, David Fidler considers whether a 
revolution is taking place in the relationship between health 
and foreign policy.

In the news (164–166)

Rupa Chinai & Rahul Goswami report from Mumbai on India’s 
booming medical tourism sector. May Meleigy reports from Cairo 
on a network of United States military laboratories that has 
become important for public health in Egypt. In this month’s 
interview, Jonas Gahr Støre, Norway’s minister of foreign 
affairs, discusses the linkages between foreign policy and health.

Health and security

Four papers explore the relationship between health and 
security. Jean-Paul Chretien et al. (174–180) propose that 
developing countries can improve their military surveillance 
capabilities through partnership with industrialized countries. 
Such partnerships could strengthen global infectious disease 
surveillance, particularly in remote and post-disaster areas. 
Robin Coupland (181–184) writes that foreign policy should 
recognize armed violence as a major global health issue and that 
it should be addressed as such. Michel Thieren (218–224) 
examines humanitarian responses, where health and foreign policy 
are in direct conflict. Rebecca Katz & Daniel A Singer call 
(233–234) for stronger partnerships between countries to better 
address global health challenges, such as localized epidemics or 
threats to international security.

Migration and health (200–206)

Since the 1990s, more attention has been paid to emerging and 
re-emerging infectious diseases and this has spurred debate on 
migration and its health implications. In their Policy and 
Practice paper, Douglas W MacPherson et al. write that since 
migration and population mobility are increasingly important 
determinants of health, they will require greater policy 
attention on the multilateral level.

How does climate change affect public health? (235–237)

The implications of climate change are well documented but there 
has been little exploration of the public health responses that 
are needed. Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum et al. argue that the most 
effective public health responses to climate change are 
threefold: environmental management; surveillance and response 
aimed at safeguarding health from natural disasters and changes 
in infectious disease patterns; and a more pro-active approach 
to ensure that development decisions serve the ultimate goal of 
improving human health.

Health impact assessment

Two papers in this issue deal with health impact assessment as a 
means of judging the effectiveness of a policy, programme or 
project in terms of the health of a population. Alex 
Scott-Samuel & Eileen O’Keefe (212–217) write that governments, 
multilateral bodies and transnational corporations need to be 
held to account for the impact of their policies and practices 
on people’s health. One way to do this would be to include human 
rights assessment in the health impact assessment methodology. 
Kelly Lee et al. (207–211) write that health impact assessments 
raise awareness among decision-makers of the relationships 
between health and other factors. They argue that these 
assessments can also generate much-needed evidence so that 
particular issues or priorities are considered.

Country case studies: Malaysia and Thailand

Simon Barraclough & Kai-Lit Phua (225–229) examine health as an 
important part of Malaysia’s foreign policy. They argue that the 
previously narrow imperatives of Malaysian national security, 
prompted by fears of infectious diseases, are giving way to a 
broader and collaborative form of health diplomacy. Such 
diplomacy, in the form of relations with other countries, goes 
beyond responding to the threat of disease outbreaks. Kumnuan 
Unchusak et al. (238–240) examine the lessons learnt from an 
outbreak of botulism in Thailand in March 2006. ■