{"id":64320,"date":"2021-05-05T14:45:53","date_gmt":"2021-05-05T04:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=64320"},"modified":"2021-05-05T14:31:25","modified_gmt":"2021-05-05T04:31:25","slug":"australian-and-us-military-health-professionals-can-help-address-pacific-island-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australian-and-us-military-health-professionals-can-help-address-pacific-island-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian and US military health professionals can help address Pacific island needs\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As threats to health security become an ever more important issue for Pacific nations, Australia and the United States have an opportunity to build partnerships by combining their considerable military health capabilities. But in planning how best to help their neighbours, they must avoid the dangers of \u2018drive-by medicine\u2019 by focusing on enduring engagement.<\/p>\n

The Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated Pacific islands nations\u2019 need for help in building their community health systems. That need will grow significantly in coming years. Climate change is likely to cause ongoing stresses to island health systems through extreme weather, reduced water quality, and increased waterborne diseases, mosquito- and food-borne diseases, heat waves and population displacement.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to prepare for such calls for help. Ideally, medical assistance could be provided by a mix of civilian and military assets, and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the US State Department could provide long-term healthcare partnerships. The US and Australia have very effective military health capabilities.<\/p>\n

The US has the naval hospital ship USNS Mercy\u00a0<\/em>and amphibious warfare vessels which engage with other nations (including Australia) in providing health services. The Mercy\u00a0<\/em>has toured the Pacific and Indian Oceans on around\u00a020\u00a0assistance missions<\/a>\u00a0since 2006. \u00a0The US Air Force and the US Army have conducted health engagements by air and land.<\/p>\n

The US military has also engaged widely in humanitarian assistance efforts that build partner nation capacity in responding to natural disasters.\u00a0In the Pacific, US personnel engage in activities focused on public health and capacity-building to help develop trauma care, medical evacuation and disease surveillance. Exercises build interoperability with allies. Many other parts of the US military also undertake health engagement activities, most notably through the\u00a0National Guard\u2019s State Partnership Program<\/a>, which links US states with countries in the region for capacity-building purposes.<\/p>\n

In contrast, for more than a decade the Australian Defence Force has largely withdrawn from health activities in the region, largely out of concern that such interventions might have a negative impact. It may now be time to review whether that approach is warranted or sustainable.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s little doubt that short-term overseas deployments of hospital ships and military health professionals can generate upbeat media coverage and impressive statistics. Such missions are often praised as a key soft-power tool in winning hearts and minds, but observers are increasingly sceptical of what is sometimes called \u2018drive-by medicine\u2019 for several reasons:<\/p>\n