Global Health Diplomacy and Pandemics: The Case of Covid – 19 in Kenya

The sudden and unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and its dramatic spread has led to a negative impact globally resulting to strict measures being put in place which have affected how countries operate and interact. Government responses such as the restriction of movement of people locally and internationally have only been seen when dealing with issues such as terrorism and not a virus therefore it is quite novel how a virus has provoked a much larger reaction from governments across the globe. The pandemic has therefore brought to light the fact that health is increasingly becoming an important factor to foreign policies of different governments owing to aspects such as globalization and sudden disease outbreaks and that the prioritization of health can no longer be ignored. There is a need for foreign policy makers especially in Kenya to pay attention to health as a foreign policy concern in order to deliver its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study sought to explore the emerging practise of global health diplomacy especially during pandemics while understanding the impact of health diplomacy in Kenya. The main case study of Cuba‟s health diplomacy was used to help establish the link between health and the foreign policy of a country. This was also be backed up by a brief look at India and China‟s health diplomacy. The specific objectives of the study were first to explore the link between health and foreign policy, second to understand health diplomacy in Cuba as a case study and what lessons Kenya can learn, third to examine Kenya‟s foreign policy and how COVID-19 is likely to affect Kenya‟s Foreign Policy practices while highlighting the importance and the impact of health diplomacy in Kenya. It incorporated liberalism and securitization theories in its theoretical framework and employed an exploratory research design backed by quantitative methods of data collection.