SARS : governance and the globalization of disease

The global SARS outbreak of 2003 was a frightening reminder of the power of the microbial world to threaten human populations. In SARS, Governance and the Globalization of Disease, David P. Fidler provides the first comprehensive analysis of the SARS outbreak and how it was successfully managed by the global effort led by the World Health Organization. Fidler argues that SARS was the first dangerous pathogen to emerge into a radically new governance context, which enabled the global effort against SARS to achieve an historic victory. This victory included both the successful management of a global outbreak of a dangerous pathogen and the dramatic battle to control the disease in China in the face of serious impediments created by the Chinese government. With SARS and other pathogenic threats still looming, this book makes a significant and timely contribution to understanding humanity's ongoing struggle with the microbial world. Read more... Introduction: The Importance of the SARS Outbreak -- PART I: WESTPHALIAN AND POST-WESTPHALIAN PUBLIC HEALTH -- Of Germs and Borders -- Public Health in the Westphalian System of International Politics -- Public Health in the Post-Westphalian System of Global Politics -- PART II: THE SARS OUTBREAK AND POST-WESTPHALIAN PUBLIC HEALTH -- Brief History of the Global SARS Outbreak of 2002-2003 -- China Confronts Public Health's 'New World Order' -- Beyond China: Lessons from SARS for Post-Westphalian Public Health -- SARS and Vulnerabilities of Post-Westphalian Public Health -- Conclusion: Governing Infectious Diseases in Globalized Anarchy