Opinion: Health workers and security forces must collaborate, not collide

Health care workers, police officers, and members of the military share the goal of keeping people safe. All too often, though, they are working at cross purposes, set on a collision course with fatal consequences for the populations caught in the middle.

As we and 17 others write in the Lancet Special Series on Security and, it is time to explore how all countries can prosper from partnerships that bridge health and security silos based on this shared vision: engagement of security forces, including police and the military, in public health is synergistic and beneficial.