BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS AND EMERGING PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERNS

The world is facing the growing threat of biological weapons which can be used for biological warfare or bioterrorism. The issue is of great concern as the biological weapons can not only be easily acquired and produced at a mass level but also because they can cause mass casualties. History has shown that biological weapons have been used over different period of times such as the use of smallpox by the European colonizers in the American continent to achieve the desired results of conquest. Evidence has also shown that some countries involved in World War I, II, during the Cold war period and even after the end of the Cold war to some extent had developed secret Biological Weapons programmes. The objective was to infect the enemy. The terrorist incidents in the United States and in the other parts of the world which involved bacterial pathogens, also showed that all nations today, equally face the threat of biological and chemical weapons. Understanding the intensity of the threats and the public health concerns involved, initiatives have been taken to prohibit the development, production, stockpiling, and use of biological weapons at the international level. However, the efforts are not without its challenges such as misuse of biological research, adherence to universal compliances etc. The need therefore arises to understand the gravity of the threat and to overcome the challenges faced. The research paper therefore focusses on the various threats to public health arising because of biological weapons and seeks to analyse the efforts made at the international level to contain them.