GLOCAL February 2014 | Page 32

1. the spread of infectious disease Infectious disease can be a threat to security in three ways. First, the spread of these diseases could pose a direct threat to the health and well-being of the very people that states are there to protect. Second, a virulent disease may cause social disruption and threaten the stability of a state in the event that state failed to provide necessary protection against disease. Third, 2. HIV/AIDS The United Nations Security Council has discussed about HIV/AIDS in its sessions. Security Council passed resolution 1308 that encompasses that HIV/AIDS can pose a threat to national security, to stability, to uniformed mili taries and to peacekeepers, and it can also exacerbate conditions of violence. HIV infection rates are high among skilled professionals including civil servants, teachers, police, health workers, soldiers and young adults. The following table by 30 Establishing the disease-security links Three factors contributed to link health with security in the security discourse: a large scale epidemic may also contribute to economic decline by forcing increased government spending on health as a percentage of GDP; reducing productivity due to worker absenteeism and the loss of skilled personnel; reducing investment due to a lack of business confidence; and by raising insurance costs for health provision. The outbreak of SARS of 2002 to 2003 in Asia leads to the loss of trade and investment as much as $30 billion. Page diseases were conquered through the use of antibiotics. After the Second World War, the number of deaths in the West fell dramatically in infectious diseases and for the first time in history an infectious disease, smallpox, was effectively eradicated. Therefore, global health became for the West less of a security concern than one of development.