Pandemic governance: using event-based surveillance to manage emerging infectious diseases

In this chapter...we focus on the operation of event-based surveillance systems in relation to the 2009-2010 H1N1 pandemic, identifying in the process their implications for the wider political economy. Utilising Margaret Chan’s call for ‘new’ international health diplomacy, we consider how disease risk is represented in the international community and we seek to uncover the locations captured by complex information networks, mediating in the space between preparedness and response. Specifically, we investigate: the spatialities of public health surveillance; the complex nature of pandemic preparedness and response; and the diverse biosecurity practices that underpin global public health governance. Through a case example, we draw attention to three ways in which the use of event-based surveillance systems advance understandings of global public health governance.