Securitization of Global Health Pandemic and Reiterating the Relevance of 2005 International Health Regulations: COVID-19 and Human Security in Africa

Abstract

The Copenhagen school of security changed the long-standing traditional thinking of security that was state-centered. Thus security, from a state-centric view was a Westphalian doctrine that centered on issues of war, interstate rivalry, boundary disputes, foreign policy, arms race, alliance, protection of state and its leaders, etc. The integration of non-military threats like health, disease, poverty, terrorism, environmental degradation, etc. into security discourse was adopted as serious security threats of global proportion. The securitization of health pandemics like COVID-19 was also given a boost by the 2005 International Health Regulation-IHR. The IHR-2005 tends to prevent, protect against, control, detect with surveillance using an early warning system, and provide a public health response to the international spread of disease in ways that are commensurate with and restricted to public health risks, and which avoid unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade restrictions. Yet countries and the African continent were not swift in tracking the COVID-19 unleashed unbearable global suffering in the form of the heavy death toll, unemployment, denial of human rights to movement, assembly, worship, and a decline in the global economy, halting international travel and international economy/business. The paper, therefore, examined the success of the IHR-2005, in terms of African continent compliance with IHR-2005 and the impact of COVID-19 on human security in Africa. The paper is content analysis-based in methodology as data was obtained from mainly secondary sources, such as textbooks, journal publications, internet materials, magazines, etc. the human security theory was explored to buttress the paper. It was discovered that, despite the International and Regional regulations, to track and curb the spread and devastating impact of health pandemic as COVID-19, the African continent still suffered severely, with death tolls, job loss, human and Civil rights abuses, etc. the work, therefore, recommends: equipping the various states, not just financially, but with skilled and trained manpower in areas of health emergencies, ensuring various states implement such regulations with strict monitoring.