Medical Engagement: Beyond the MEDCAP
Abstract
This paper answers the question: Is the way the US military provides Health Services Support via medical engagements with foreign populations the proper and most efficient way US military medical resources can be employed in the current environment? To further frame the understanding, the following question is also answered: How should the US military employ medical resources in order to further US military, and foreign, objectives? The author contends that US military medical resources can be better leveraged to support US foreign policy objectives by looking beyond the current manner of medical engagement with foreign governments and population groups under auspices of security cooperation and Humanitarian and Civic Assistance (HCA) activities. Specifically, medical engagements should be focused on development of fragile states capacity for provision of medical services to local populations and, concurrently, detection and response to infectious disease outbreaks. US military medical engagements should be designed to improve the health security of populations in fragile states for the long-term. In doing so, the US military must integrate military medical engagement activities with other US governmental agencies and entities in order to create, and execute, an integrated strategy for medical capacity improvement. As a result of these efforts, the US will better its investment for the long-run by enabling fragile states to provide basic health services for their citizens while concurrently increasing their capacity to prevent, respond to, and mitigate public health threats before they potentially become very real threats to the national security of the United States. As secondary purpose, this paper provides a proposed model for crafting medical engagement strategies supporting the argument for capacity development.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 16, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA485508
Entities
People
- Edward L. Bryan Jr.
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College