A critical view of the global health emergencies: the 2016 zika epidemic case

Abstract

The study of global health agenda-setting and issue-prioritization has been one of the key aspects of a critical literature that, in recent years, has aimed to identify the political dimensions of global health governance and to shed light on points of tension, exclusion, and inequality. This essay speaks to this critical global health literature, focusing on the construction of the category of emergencies of international concern. Considering the case of the outbreak of zika and congenital syndrome in Brazil in 2016, it explores the conditions enabling the construction of an emergency. We question the factors and conditions around this public health event that were considered during the decision-making process and that transcended material, more objective data regarding zika’s epidemiology, its morbimortality, or its association with congenital malformations. We conclude that the securitized context and the growing relevance of risk to global health are important conditions for understanding emergency declarations.