"The response plan was our saviour." Health security and pandemic response: A test-case of the pandemic influenza A(H1N1) in Iceland

• Main Author: Inga Sif Daníelsdóttir 1983-
• Other Authors: Háskóli Íslands
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Alþjóðasamskipti; Heilbrigðismál; Farsóttir; Alþjóðasamstarf; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1946/13028

Health and security have long been distinct fields, whereby health was only seen as a medical problem and security was a matter of military defence. But when the security debate changed and was redefined and broadened after the Cold War’s end - moving from the security of the state to human values - these two matters merged into one. In cases today of infectious disease and other acute health events that spread across international borders, no country is fully protected. Increased international cooperation is required to prevent further outbreaks and decrease transmission both within and between countries. A country with a good health system, risk assessment and response plan is better able to take on security threats like pandemic and is more likely to be less affected than one that lacks these things, but it still cannot expect to master the challenge without external help. The aim of this thesis is to analyze how the Icelandic authorities responded to the Pandemic Influenza A(H1N1) that circled the globe in 2009 and 2010. It is already known that there was a pandemic response plan available in Iceland before the pandemic occurred, but what has not been revealed is how it was used during the pandemic. Two questions are put forward in examining the test-case: (a) was the pandemic defined and handled as a security issue and were the responses adequate and successful (in line with the pandemic response plan)?; and (b) did the pandemic present a sufficient threat to justify and to test the activation of broader, multi-sectoral emergency measures? Seeking answers to these questions, two types of research methods are used. The greater part of the thesis is based on already existing written materials, e.g. books, articles, reports and minutes of meetings, but part of it is also based on interviews with two experts in the Icelandic health security field. The main findings are that Icelandic authorities worked mostly according to the response plan and clearly defined and handled the pandemic as more than just a health ...