Building a better global health security early-warning system post-COVID: The view from Canada
| Author | Wesley Wark |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020702020985227 |
| Published date | 01 March 2021 |
| Date | 01 March 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Scholarly Essay |
Scholarly Essay
Building a better
global health security
early-warning system
post-COVID: The view
from Canada
Wesley Wark
Centre for International Governance Innovation, Waterloo,
Canada
Abstract
In the years following the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in
2002–2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) created a new system for global
disease outbreak surveillance. The system relied on timely reporting by nation-states
and gave the WHO a leading role in the global response. It also recognized the value of
a multiplicity of sources of information, including from open-source media scanning.
The post-SARS system faced its most significant task with the outbreak of the COVID-
19 pandemic in the People’s Republic of China and its rapid spread in 2020. The WHO
architecture for early warning of disease outbreaks arguably failed and gives rise to
questions about how the international community can better respond to pandemic
threats in future. This article explores the inter-connectedness of Canada’s system for
global health surveillance, featuring the work of the Global Public Health Intelligence
Network and that of the WHO, and argues that, while Canada has positioned itself as a
global leader, much work needs to be done in Canada, and globally, if the concept of
collective health security and shared early warning is to be maintained in the future.
Keywords
Global health surveillance, World Health Organization, Public Health Agency of
Canada, Global Public Health Intelligence Network, open-source intelligence, risk
assessment, biosecurity
Corresponding author:
Wesley Wark, University of Ottawa, 55 Laurier Avenue East, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5, Canada.
Email: Wesley.Wark@uottawa.ca
International Journal
2021, Vol. 76(1) 55–67
!The Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/0020702020985227
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