ABSTRACT
From the first International Sanitary Conference in 1851 to the formation of partnerships such as the GAVI Alliance (previously the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation) global health has set the model for many forms of global governance. Health-commonly defined as the state of physical and mental wellbeing-goes to the heart of questions of justice, equality, and liberty. The health of a population, community, or individual is a key indicator of wellbeing, wealth, and security. How health is provided or understood, as the responsibility either of the individual to take care of their minds and bodies or of the state to manage the structural determinants of ill health and redis - tribute wealth in a way to allow individuals to do so, has been at the crux of contemporary political debate on welfare provision and personal liberty for centuries. Health concerns have the ability to prevent the trade of goods, shut down airports, exacerbate poverty, engender fear, and destabilize armies. Yet health is often labeled as a soft topic in inter - national politics and a side issue to security and economic concerns.
