In August 2018, my husband and I left London for the colder, darker, but Brexit-free, climes of Sweden. With rose-tinted glasses firmly on, we were excited to live in a country famed for its keen sense of equity, entrepreneurial spirit and pragmatic stylishness. With our own mushroom foraging spot identified, a firm opinion on […]
Latest articles
An ethical perspective from the COVID-19 frontline
In a call with the local health department on panemic control, I asked , what was being done to provide isolation for infected farm workers, prisoners, and the homeless. A member of the department replied, “We have that covered.” When I asked about the steps being taken, he said, “Are you implying that we […]
COVID-19 in the Caribbean region : indications of gendered nature
National governments across the world are scrambling to contain the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The Caribbean region has been affected later than other regions including Asia, Europe and Africa. As at 21st March 2020, twenty-four countries/territories in the Caribbean region have reported a total of 384 confirmed COVID-19 infections. Most cases are imported […]
Saving lives by European solidarity and cooperation in response to COVID-19
COVID-19 is spreading rapidly across Europe. Many people are currently suffering from it and thousands in Europe are dying. We know that these numbers will inevitably rise much further. The European Council recently stressed the importance of European solidarity and cooperation in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Most European countries have ensured that there […]
Sex, gender and COVID-19: disaggregated data and health disparities
Sex and gender matter to health equity. The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) illustrates this in the clearest terms. We are pleased that the Lancet Gender and COVID-19 Working Group, UN Women, UNFPA and others are bringing attention to the gendered elements of the outbreak. The impact on women in particular has been […]
Flattening the curve of COVID-19 infodemic: experiences, not conjectures
COVID-19 was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020. Ever since, the disease has spiralled across the world with more than 169 countries affected. We are essentially looking at a new challenge and at an unprecedented scale. The global health community has responded by putting in its best foot […]
What the “Global North” needs to learn about COVID-19 ?
There are times where our world can feel so different and certain diseases seem relegated to other times and other places. As Covid-19 spreads widely in the United States, predictions are that it will tax our health system to its limit, and, cause health workers to face unprecedented challenges in their duty to patients. There […]
Ethical Pandemic Control
What makes the difference in whether actions in the face of a pandemic such COVID-19 are perceived as ethical or unethical? And why does this matter to the trajectory of a pandemic? Traditionally in public health ethics, five factors have played a prominent role in ethically responding to an epidemic. Organism biology Infectiousness and […]
Public Health Communication for COVID-19: Can professional health associations in India do more?
The glimmer of hope provided by the damping down of the COVID-19 epidemic curve in China is being compensated for by the rapid rise of the number of cases and deaths in Italy, Iran, and South Korea, with WHO’s risk assessment in China, the Regional Level and the Global Level remaining ‘Very High’. India, […]
COVID-19 in Ecuador: high alert, limited information
With only 17 officially announced cases, Ecuador recently declared COVID-19 a health emergency, but the announcement was not backed by precise scientific information to fully understand the reasons behind this decision or a contingency plan. Because it was the third country in the region to identify SARS-CoV-2, on February 29, the Ecuadorian government could […]