SINGAPORE -- Given the real possibility of a global pandemic, possibly from the possible outbreak of a virulent influenza, it's time to ask: Should states treat infectious diseases as security threats?
Although the concept of security, particularly in East Asia, has been expanded to include both conventional and nonconventional threats, health security has not been included in the region's security lexicon. But given the multidimensional threats posed by infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and, more recently, the H5N1 virus (bird flu), it is time that states "securitize" infectious diseases.
In 2003, SARS put the region's medical capability to test. The situation was compounded by the fact that there was no known cure and that many victims were health-care workers. The psychological impact was significant. As one doctor in Hong Kong put it, when doctors and nurses become victims, "the whole community panics."