Health Security: Definition Problems

Abstract

The link between security and health is not a discovery. Despite the widespread recognition of the social importance of health security, there is no single common definition of this concept. The study’s objective was to search, analyse and evaluate possible original propositions to define the concept of “health security” in Polish professional literature published from 10 January 2017 to 31 March 2022. The research method was a scoping review performed in five stages according to H. Arksey and L. O’Malley. Ultimately, the study criteria were met by four studies. The proposed definition of health security in these papers failed to solve this problem and raised further questions and doubts. It is urgent to start a discourse on the meaning of the concept of “health security” with the broadest possible participation of representatives of various scientific disciplines, but taking into account the knowledge and practice of public health. It seems that it will be impossible to avoid the following questions: what is health security nowadays? What is health security as a personal issue? What are the necessary steps to achieve the consensus? Is it worthwhile to consider it on the international level?