국제표준화의 불확실성과 메르스사태 – 불확실성의 다중성 (Uncertainties of international standards in the Mers CoV outbreak in Korea – Multiplicity of uncertainties)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국환경사회학회
· 수록지 정보 : ECO / 20권 / 1호 / 317 ~ 351페이지
· 저자명 : 김기흥

초록

2015년 한국에서 발생한 메르스 코로나바이러스는 전국을 공포에 몰아넣었으며 엄청난 경제적 손실을 일어켰다. 메르스의 갑작스럽고 대단위의 확산은 정부의 대응시스템의 비효율성과 의료체계의 문제점을 고스란히 드러내는 계기가 되었다. 지금까지 다양한 학문적 분석을 통해 메르스 사태에서 나타난 의료체계의 문제와 한국정부의 방역체계의 문제를 논의했지만 정작 메르스 확산에 하나의 원인을 제공한 국제보건기구가 제공한 정보와 매뉴얼의 문제에 대해서는 관심을 갖지 못했다. 특히 세계보건기구 (WHO)는 메르스 확산과정에서 중앙정부만큼이나 중요한 역할을 했으며 메르스를 둘러싼 불확실성의 증가에 중요한 역할을 했다. 본 논문은 메르스 사태를 사회과학적으로 분석하는 다양한 문헌들과는 달리 메르스 사태에 세계보건기구가 어떠한 역할을 했으며 세계보건기구가 구성했던 메르스 병원체의 특징에서 나타나는 불확실성이 어떻게 지역국가 단위에서 다른 형태로 구성되는가, 즉 불확실성의 공동구성성의 형태에 대해서 논의하게 될 것이다. 신종전염병으로서 한국에서 확산된 메르스의 경우 이 질병에 대한 대응지침이 세계보건기구가 설정해놓은 일반적인 표준화된 병원체 정의, 진단 및 조치방식이 어떻게 지역적인 맥락과 충돌하면서 문제를 악화시키는가에 대한 논의를 하게 될 것이다.

영어초록

The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a novel infectious disease that is mainly widespread in the region of Middle East including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Arab Emirates. The diseases was first reported in 2012 in Saudi Arabia. As the name indicates, the disease outbreaks in the Middle East region and it was thought to be limited in the area, though there can be possible danger of international outbreak due to the increasing interaction between countries. This potential danger became a reality in 2015 when a 68-year-old male with a recent travel history to several Middle Eastern countries including Bahrain, Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar showed severe respiratory symptoms in South Korea. For two months, the whole nation was stopped her functions. The fear of spreading the disease prevailed amongst Koreans. By the end of July there have been a total of 185 confirmed cases and 26 deaths reported. Also, more than 14,000 contacts had to be traced for monitoring. The Korean case of the MERS outbreak alarmed the international community. In particular, the World Health Organization (WHO) paid attention to the situation in Korea. At the height of the outbreak WHO sent delegates to conduct a joint mission with the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korean government. The WHO team worked closely with the Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) to assess the whole disease controlling system and concluded that there were several potentially problematic factors which might contribute to the widespread of the disease in such a short time period including poor ventilation and ineffective disinfection in hospital, medical shopping culture and overcrowded situation of ER rooms. However, although many research have searched for why the government agency failed to manage risk communication, there are more important elements to consider in order to understand how and why the disease controlling and preventing system did not work properly. The communication problems and secrecy of policy making might play an important role. If you examine the whole network of healthcare system including international organizations, research community, government agencies and private clinics, an interesting question can be raised; are there conventional referential criteria to make a decision for controlling and preventing the disease? In fact, most explanations of the origin, transmission route, treatment and guidelines of managing the disease are not completely settled down. In other words, the uncertainties are not completely removed from general characteristics of the disease.

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