The interconnected and cross-border nature of risks posed by infectious diseases

This paper explains how mitigating the emergence and spread of infectious disease necessitates mapping and prioritising the interdependencies between public health and other sectors. Conversely, during an international public health emergency, significant disruption occurs not only to healthcare systems, but also to a potentially wide range of sectors, including trade, tourism, energy, civil protection, transport, agriculture, and so on.

Moving forward, more research into the efficacy and status of public health preparedness and further work on the cross-sectoral dependencies created by disease outbreaks will be important areas for development. On 6 November 2013, a new European Union Decision on serious cross-border threats to health entered into force. Two of the main features of this legal instrument are its “all hazard” approach and its emphasis on inter-sectoral collaboration. Both aspects are of strong relevance for an integrated approach towards interconnected risks.

This document is an input paper of the 2015 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction.