Abstract
In the spring of 2003, the world experienced “déjà vu all over again” in the field of public health and global health governance. The 201h century saw at least three pandemics-the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919, the Asian Flu pandemic of 1957-58, and the Hong Kong Flu pandemic of 1968-1969-all of which originated in China. Once again, despite Mao Zedong’s over-optimistic “farewell to the god of plagues” nearly half a century ago, a new infectious disease emerged from China in the form of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (“SARS”). SARS claimed lives across the globe and shook the confidence of the world’s population to its roots. Although SARS did not reap nearly as many victims as previous flu pandemics or other diseases of imminent global concern like malaria, tuberculosis, or HIV/AIDS, the global community took disproportionate notice of the disease because, in part, it “spread in areas with broad international commercial links and received intense media attention as a mysterious new illness that seemed able to go anywhere and hit anyone.” The looming specter of globalization amplified these factors. In today’s world, the phenomenon of globalization has turned the distant threat of a localized disease outbreak into a pressing international concern. Within the public health context, the effects of globalization chip away at traditional justifications for state sovereignty. As the global community grows closer, the effects of globalization, coupled with threats of easily communicable and highly deadly infectious diseases, are too dire to ignore. Recently heightened awareness of the threat of infectious disease pandemic has seen a change in public consciousness. A sovereign state’s response to domestic disease is no longer solely the concern of that state. Effective and recognized principles of international law are needed to pierce the sanctified veil of state sovereignty.