The Foreign Service Journal, December 2004

22 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 4 F O C U S O N M E D I C A L D I P L O M A C Y P UBLIC H EALTH AS A G LOBAL S ECURITY I SSUE one too soon, we are rediscovering the wisdom of our ancestors — public health is the basic tenet upon which all other forms of security rest. Without a healthy and prosperous citizenry, a state cannot grow its economy, improve the material and spiritual lives of its people, or adequately defend its borders and inter- ests. Thus, a government that cannot secure the health of its people has failed its most fundamental responsibili- ty, lacks legitimacy, and will ultimately find itself without popular support. Infectious epidemics represent especially potent threats to public health and the stability of states. The high N T HE OPTIMISTIC TALK OF AN END TO INFECTIOUS DISEASES HAS PROVED NAÏVE AND DANGEROUS . B UT THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY CAN RESPOND EFFECTIVELY TO THE CRISIS . B Y R ANDY C HEEK Roy Scott