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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%" lang="DE">THE LUST FOR THE PLAGUE </span></b><font size="1"><span style="line-height:107%" lang="DE">Excerpts</span></font><b><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%" lang="DE"><span></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri"><b><span lang="DE">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. <span></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri"><b><span lang="DE">By Dr.
Andreas Wulf, medico international and PHM<span></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri"><span lang="DE"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri"><b><span lang="DE">What a
new epidemic promises<span></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri"><span lang="DE">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.<span> </span>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.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri"><span lang="DE">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.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri"><b><span lang="DE"><span> </span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri"><b><span lang="DE">The
daily management of global health threats is neglected<span></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri"><span lang="DE">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.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri"><span lang="DE"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri"><span lang="DE">If global <span> </span>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.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri"><span lang="DE"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri"><i><span lang="DE"><span> </span>"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".<span></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:107%" lang="DE">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".<span></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri"><span lang="DE"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri"><span lang="DE"><span> </span></span></p>
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