ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with the observation that health security is normally presented as a natural evolutionary step that has led to a transformation in policy and governance. Security is a central dimension of the global governance of health. Explicit articulations of the health–security nexus can be traced back to the post-World War II period when the Constitution of the World Health Organization presented health as a basic principle of the “security of all peoples”. Disease is a “morbid physical condition” of the body, “or of some part or organ of the body, in which its functions are disturbed and deranged.” Health is an important component of the day-to-day of policymaking. For example, disease outbreaks call for the implementation of strategies of response. Sometimes, health issues are of such magnitude that states are forced to alter their priorities. Mechanisms and institutions for dealing with health issues are an intrinsic part of the bureaucratic apparatus of most states.
