WHO governs? Limited global governance by the World Health Organization during the SARS outbreak
Author(s)
Smith, Frank
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2009
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Did the World Health Organization's response to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome represent a radical change in global health governance? The short answer is no. Granted, some scholars have argued that global health governance was radically transformed because WHO appeared to exercise unprecedented power and change state behaviour regarding SARS. Yet global governance by WHO was actually of limited content and consequence during this outbreak. State and local governments, in contrast, governed the most important public health actions, namely medical treatment and infection control. While these findings may curtail optimism ...
View more >Did the World Health Organization's response to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome represent a radical change in global health governance? The short answer is no. Granted, some scholars have argued that global health governance was radically transformed because WHO appeared to exercise unprecedented power and change state behaviour regarding SARS. Yet global governance by WHO was actually of limited content and consequence during this outbreak. State and local governments, in contrast, governed the most important public health actions, namely medical treatment and infection control. While these findings may curtail optimism about global governance, they have important implications for understanding the international response to transnational outbreaks of infectious diseases.
View less >
View more >Did the World Health Organization's response to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome represent a radical change in global health governance? The short answer is no. Granted, some scholars have argued that global health governance was radically transformed because WHO appeared to exercise unprecedented power and change state behaviour regarding SARS. Yet global governance by WHO was actually of limited content and consequence during this outbreak. State and local governments, in contrast, governed the most important public health actions, namely medical treatment and infection control. While these findings may curtail optimism about global governance, they have important implications for understanding the international response to transnational outbreaks of infectious diseases.
View less >
Journal Title
Social Alternatives
Volume
28
Issue
2
Publisher URI
Copyright Statement
© 2009 Social Alternatives. Self-archiving of the author-manuscript version is not yet supported by this publisher. Please refer to the journal link for access to the definitive, published version or contact the author for more information.
Subject
International Relations
Political Science
Sociology