Global Health Engagement and The Department of Defense as a Vehicle for Security and Sustainable Global Health

Abstract

The Unites States Department of Defense (DoD) is viewed by many in the general public as a monolithic government entity whose primary purpose is to coordinate this country's ability to make war and maintain a military presence around the world. However, the DoD is in fact a multidimensional organization whose global impact is as expansive as it is varying and is responsible for far-reaching global health interventions. The United States has worked toward providing long-term care among host nation populations by providing training in several areas related to medicine, with positive results. These efforts can be built upon with substantial positive effects. Building health infrastructure and capacity around the world is essential. The DoD is the most generously funded agency in the world, and the resources at its disposal provide the opportunity to make great gains in the long term in terms of both health and security worldwide. With efficient and careful use of DoD resources, and partnerships with key non-governmental organizations with specialized knowledge and great passion, partnerships can be forged with communities around the world to ensure that public health is achieved in even the most underserved communities. A move toward creating sustainable health systems with long-term goals and measurable outcomes is an essential complement to the already successful disaster and emergency relief that the United States military already provides. By ensuring that communities around the world are both provided with access to the sustainable health care they need and that emergency situations can be responded to in an efficient way, the United States can serve its duty as a leader in sharing expertise and resources for the betterment and security of all humankind.

The role of health systems for health security: a scoping review revealing the need for improved conceptual and practical linkages

“…The articles related to high income countries (HICs) confirm this concern about the risk of diseases from the Global South spreading globally. Out of the 34 articles referring to Europe and North America, 57% ( n = 18) dealt with the capacity to respond to pandemics [ 54 , 54 , 62 – 65 ], and infectious diseases like Ebola or Zika [ 66 – 73 ], or tuberculosis [ 67 ], with travel medicine services [ 74 ], as well as with actions that are/should be taken internationally to strengthen global health security [ 57 , 75 ].…”

Observations from the Korean War for Modern Military Medicine

“…Similar programmes were established in Iraq ( Michaud III and Maxwell, 2012: 676-680 ) and Afghanistan ( Bricknell and Cameron, 2011: S472-S476 ; Bricknell and Grigson, 2011: S468-S472 ). This is role now a recognised task for some military health services and is codified under the term military global health engagement covering both ‘military to military’ and ‘civilianmilitary’ activities ( Moten, et al, 2018: 14-17 ).…”