Public prophylaxis: Pandemic influenza, pharmaceutical prevention and participatory governance

Abstract

In this article, I explore recent discussions among American public health professionals over how to protect the health of the nation in a state of emergency. My focus is specifically on questions of preventative strategy and population management, examining intensive debates around the prioritization of protective vaccine for pandemic influenza. Drawing on ethnographic research, I show how the mode of circulation, distribution and allocation of pandemic vaccine was gradually refashioned in the United States over the past 2 years. When government officials launched public engagement meetings reformulating in ethical terms the crucial question of how to dispense a scarce pharmaceutical resource in a public health emergency, a distinctive set of priorities emerged. My aim, in this article, is to examine this ethical refashioning and to interrogate the curious logics of public-ness that are increasingly embedded in a growing number of approaches of public health professionals. How are populations gathered into the fold of pharmaceutical prevention today?

Unresolved issues in risk communication research: the case of the H1N1 pandemic (2009–2011)

“…Numerous case studies on H1N1 and H5N1 illustrate how an “Other” was blamed for being the cause or the vector of the flu producing the stigmatization of specific individuals or collectivities . One paper states that “Fighting against any disease or finding a solution to a social problem is in fact related to knowing how members of a society perceive it.” Such a blaming process seems to appear in every new crisis.…”

Announcing Swine Flu and the Interpretation of Pandemic Anxiety

“…With hindsight, the event of swine flu appears as a small event in respect to anticipated severity and death rates. Nevertheless, public health officials and experts stressed their moral obligation to abide to the “precautionary principle” to prevent as much harm as possible even if that means taking some extreme measures, spreading anxiety and playing into the hands of the pharma industry (Caduff 2010; Gallaher 2009; Michaelis, Doerr and Cinatl 2009).…”

'Supra-stewardship': a tool for citizen participation in European Union pandemic preparedness planning

“…This is because, as indicated, in one way or another they seem to condition and reinforce a preference for the use of such interventions within a medical emergency model. 217 To focus on legitimacy, the preference for pharmaceuticals might also be explained by their cultural resonance and use for legitimation purposes. That is, pharmaceuticals are now central to well-being and health, and are dominant in marketing strategies that favour selfmanagement and which are underpinned by the individualisation of risk.…”