Public Health in Asia during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Global Health Governance, Migrant Labour, and International Health Crises

Every nation in Asia has dealt with COVID-19 differently and with varying levels of success in the absence of clear and effective leadership from the WHO. As a result, the WHO's role in Asia as a global health organization is coming under increasing pressure. As its credibility is slowly being eroded by public displays of incompetence and negligence, it has also become an arena of contestation. Moreover, while the pandemic continues to undermine the future of global health governance as a whole, the highly interdependent economies in Asia have exposed the speed with which pandemics can spread, as intensive regional travel and business connections have caused every area in the region to be hit hard. The migrant labor necessary to sustain globalized economies has been strained and the security of international workers is now more precarious than ever, as millions have been left stranded, seen their entry blocked, or have limited access to health services. This volume provides an accessible framework for the understanding the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia, with a specific emphasis on global governance in health and labor.

Frontmatter --; Health, Medicine, and Science in Asia --; Table of Contents --; Introduction: COVID-19 and Asia --; Part I. Health Policy in Asia and the Global Community --; 1. Fighting for a Global Community in a Post-COVID World --; 2. Countering Emerging Infectious Diseases and COVID-19 --; 3. The Outbreak of Infectious Disease and Trust in Government in Asian Countries --; Part II. The Future of Global Health Governance in Asia --; 4. China and the World Health Organization --; 5. South Korea and the WHO during the COVID-19 Crisis --; 6. Escaping the 'Realist Trap' --; 7. From Pneumonia to Pragmatism --; Part III. Domestic Responses to COVID-19 in a Globalized Asia --; 8. The COVID-19 Pandemic --; 9. The Coordination of COVID-19 Responses in Malaysia --; 10. Analysis of South Korea's Experience with the COVID-19 Pandemic and its Relations with the WHO --; 11. State-Society Relations as Cooperative Partnership and the COVID-19 Response in Vietnam --; Part IV. The Global Economy and Transnational Migrant Labour in Asia during COVID-19 --; 12. The Coronavirus as the 'Final Straw' of the CCP's Performative Legitimacy? --; 13. Health Governance during the COVID-19 Pandemic --; 14. Public Health and Capitalism in Japan --; 15. Indonesia's Response to Global Recommendations on Labour