Is a National Security Response to the Next Pandemic Warranted? Ashley Bloomfield Thinks So

Sir Ashley Bloomfield and Professor David Murdoch, two of New Zealand’s top COVID responders, are advocating for the government to treat pandemics as national security threats rather than just health concerns.

Bloomfield and Murdoch argue that COVID’s economic, social, and health impacts justify a “whole-of-government” response led by the National Security Group in the Prime Minister’s Department.

They cite the closure of businesses, school disruptions, and supply chain breakdowns as proof that pandemics pose a serious national security risk. Bloomfield and Murdoch warn of a “cycle of panic and neglect” but does the push for national security involvement blur the lines between genuine security threats and public health management?

Writing in the New Zealand Medical Journal, the experts argued that global investment in prevention, preparedness and response was “nowhere near the scale or speed necessary” to deal with the next “inevitable” event.

The Ministry of Health recently updated the country’s national pandemic plan, while findings from the first stage of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into our Covid-19 response are due next month.

Bloomfield and Murdoch noted that the second stage of the inquiry wasn’t expected to begin reporting until early 2026 – which would be more than three years after the pandemic was officially declared over. They say New Zealand needs to ensure it has the infrastructure needed to underpin and support our future pandemic preparedness – not only at healthcare level, but supply chain and logistics, communication technology, financial systems, community services and in education.