• Gemma Bowsher, Rose Bernard, and Richard Sullivan.
• Gemma Bowsher, MBBS, and Rose Bernard, MA, are Research Associates; and Richard Sullivan, PhD, is Co-Director; all in Conflict and Health Research Group, Department of War Studies, King's College London, London, UK.
• Health Secur. 2020 Dec 1; 18 (6): 435-443.

AbstractThe novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has exposed critical failures in global public policy preparedness and response. Despite over a decade of exposure to other epidemics and pandemics, many, if not most, nation states have failed to integrate lessons learned into their pandemic preparedness and response plans. The United Kingdom's response to COVID-19 is an archetype of how the pandemic has overwhelmed traditional public health-led approaches. In this paper, we explore the UK experience and propose that pandemics constitute multivector threats meriting attention within a health intelligence framework. They employ the processes of information management used by the intelligence sector to illustrate a procedural matrix for guiding public policy during complex health security events.

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