Making health a priority of US foreign policy.

Abstract

Professionals in health and foreign policy have recently begun to coalesce to devise strategies to persuade the president, the secretary of state, and congressional leaders that it is prudent and practical to raise the priority accorded to health on the United States' foreign policy agenda. Members of the coalition advocating higher priority are arraying evidence and argument that the health problems of people in other countries affect vital American interests. This advocacy rests on 3 principles: (1) Americans face growing danger from recognized and emerging diseases. (2) Global health risks undermine US economic and security interests. (3) The United States has a unique opportunity to lead in arraying incentives to create a healthier world population. These principles are grounded in a long history of activism in international health by American public health pioneers and their allies in business, foundations, and government. The articles in this issue offer considerable evidence that supports these principles. The initial statement of the new case for raising the priority of health in foreign policy is a report, Why Health Is Important to US Foreign Policy, published earlier this year by the Council on Foreign Relations and the Milbank Memorial Fund. This report summarizes evidence presented at meetings of public- and private-sector leaders in foreign and international health policy convened by the 2 organizations beginning in 1999. The 3 principles listed above underlie the detailed recommendations for policy included in the report. The incentives for political action derived from the principles are national defense, enlightened self-interest, and the mission of a democratic superpower.