The outbreak of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) which originated in Wuhan, China has been declared as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) by the World Health Organization (WHO). At the time of writing the article , there w approximately 71,811 confirmed cases, and 1,775 deaths globally due to this deadly virus (1). The current […]
Tag: covid-19
COVID-19 and the Global Health Workforce
Following the second meeting of the Emergency Committee convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, the novel Corona virus or COVID-19 outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). This has negatively impacted the global economy and global travel, with growing concerns for preparedness of health systems worldwide and its […]
Protecting China’s healthcare workers during COVID-19
With over a hundred thousand COVID-19 cases across 100 countries , the World Health Organization (WHO), has declared the outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (1). COVID-19 originated from Wuhan in the Hubei Province in China, the epicenter of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak since December 2019. COVID-19 is highly contagious and […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
COVID-19 and abortion care: why we need remote access to reproductive health services
by Elizabeth Chloe Romanis and Jordan Parsons At the end of 2018 the Department of Health announced that in England, following measures implemented earlier in Scotland and Wales, it would become legal for pregnant women to take misoprostol, the second of the two abortion pills at home. Before this, women were required to attend an […]