PHM-Exch> [PHM NEWS] THE LUST FOR THE PLAGUE

Claudio Schuftan cschuftan at phmovement.org
Fri Jan 31 18:59:34 PST 2020


*THE LUST FOR THE PLAGUE  *Excerpts

*If only one "new" virus triggers an alarm at a time, the scandal of the
thousands of avoidable victims of measles or tuberculosis becomes smaller
and smaller. *

*By Dr. Andreas Wulf, medico international and PHM*



*What a new epidemic promises*

It seems that everyone is rushing to catch this new infectious disease,
already announced as a "pandemic", to forget for a moment the climate
crisis, the Libyan crisis and the Brexit crisis. And all the players have
their own interests at stake.  A new epidemic promises new research funds,
new resources for vaccines and medicines development, new prevention
activities, new jobs and new experts panels and conferences, and a welcome
change from the often boring and tedious routines of everyday work for a
functioning healthcare system. This, however, should actually be exactly
what it is all about: strengthening the daily work of the health system so
that all people in need can be helped in case of need.

If always an emergency has to be declared first, so that the question of
continuous monitoring of health hazards comes up, at some point nobody
believes that surveillance should be part of the routine tasks (and cannot
be delegated to a "rapid reaction force") to prepare a health system for
such situations. And if only one "new" virus triggers the alarm, the
scandal of the avoidable victims of well-known killers such as measles or
tuberculosis becomes smaller and smaller - as currently shown by the
comparison between the 9,000 confirmed fatalities of the measles outbreak
in the DR Congo since 2019 and the 132 current deaths caused by the new
corona virus globally, most of them in the 11 million metropolis of Wuhan.



*The daily management of global health threats is neglected*

WHO currently complains of acute "donor fatigue" in the fight against
measles in Congo and lists weak health systems, logistical difficulties and
malnutrition of the population as co-factors of the epidemic. Here sits the
dilemma of such "disaster health policy", as it is currently evident in the
Corona case: in the simulation of an activist system of global health
security policy that prioritizes events because this allows attention,
resources and significance to be mobilized while neglecting the day-to-day
management of global health threats.



If global  health policy was really serious about its commitment to
universal health coverage, then the difference would have to be made here:
Despite all the necessary attention to potential global health threats,
today more than ever it is a matter of structurally strengthening local
basic health systems, which are also necessary to cope with epidemics in an
emergency. This was demonstrated in the Ebola crisis in West Africa, and it
will be shown again if the corona virus proves to be much more dangerous
than it fortunately still looks at present.



*   "Pandemics teach us that all human beings are born equal and therefore
mortal in the same way. In line with this, the danger of a global pandemic
can only be averted if the concept of "health for all" is finally realized
and the simple truth is recognized everywhere in the world that every
public health system is only as strong as its poorest patient".*

*From: The host is always the stranger of Satya Sivaraman. The journalist,
author and filmmaker lives in different places in South and Southeast Asia
and is media consultant of the "People's Health Movement".*
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