A Public Health Combative Plan towards a Bioterrorist Attack

Maria G. Vareli a,b* and Aikaterini A. Poulou b,c

  a Ministry for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, GR, b National Public Health Organization, GR
b National Public Health Organization, GR, c National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, GR
  


ABSTRACT

  The rapid development of technology and ongoing scientific discoveries pave the way for the creation of new weapons, ensuring minimum cost and optimal performance. The events that took place at the beginning of the 21st century have made it clear that there is a need to study and deal with groups and organizations of dissidents who, despite their non-statehood, have the power to attack even a superpower such as the United States of America. In an ever-changing international chess board, where new players and strategies are introduced, adaptability to the new conditions is required for the strongest to prevail.
  Insecurity prevails over international actors, who are constantly confronted with new and sophisticated forms of violence. In several cases these asymmetric threats are carried out by new players belonging to the category of non-state actors. The sources of insecurity extend to different species, and they still concern either the food chain or the environment, damaging the human population. Hybrid forms of war threaten the security of individual states, or even a number of them, given the communicability of their action.
  The production and use of biological weapons by revising forces in order to threaten the lives of hundreds of citizens and the risk of their uncontrolled proliferation must redefine political views around the concept of security. The literature itself distinguishes the concepts of biosecurity and biosafety, the first of which involves the safety of citizens from deliberate biological threats, and the second which refers to cases of accidents and natural causes.
  Therefore, the aim of this study is to assess and determine how to deal with bio threats, and how health personnel will act in the context of a possible bioterrorist attack.

KEYWORDS: Bioterrorism; Public Health; Biosecurity; Biosafety; Medical Emergency Issues; Risk Evaluation; Emergency Response

DOI: 10.6929/IJCM.202401_14(1).0003 

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