The AMA Journal of Ethics has launched a call for contributions focusing on military global health engagements. Deadline for submissions is 30 May 2025.
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One thing humanitarian operations, medical relief missions, clinical research, infectious disease surveillance, and health diplomacy have in common is military global health engagement. These activities tend to be diverse in duration, ranging from a single day to longer than 50 years, and partners can include nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), host nations’ health ministries, host nations’ militaries, and pharmaceutical companies. Military global health engagements might be regarded with suspicion by some in ethics and health policy circles, since armed forces regularly use deadly force to promote national defense and security goals that perpetuate violence and atrocities. Yet many military clinicians and public health agents work to build critical civic and health infrastructure, prevent disease transmission, or staff short-term medical relief missions that serve domestic and international refugees, asylees, allies, or members of a diverse range of noncombatant patients.
Australian, Chinese, French, and many additional international militaries conduct global health activities. The United States military also coordinates and funds numerous and diverse global health engagements, sometimes with NGOs or state or international health ministries (eg, US Agency for International Development, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Department of State). Even if we agree that public health is global health and that national security is health security, reasonable people might disagree about the nature and terms upon which militaries should engage global health work or whether and when health work should be regarded as exacerbating conflict or promoting peace. Which ethical, clinical, legal, and geopolitical values should guide such debates and decisions are considered in this theme issue about the global health endeavors of host nations, their citizens, and their militaries.
Manuscripts submitted for peer review consideration and inclusion in this issue must follow Instructions for Authors and be submitted by 30 May 2025.