Write and essay on health is wealth in the context of covid - 19
Answers
Answer:
The COVID-19 crisis has reminded us that our economies depend on our health, and our health depends on how we work together. With the future of billions determined by decisions the G20 leaders take now, we cannot afford the costs of inaction
When the COVID-19 crisis hit, many governments dithered, or made it worse through denial, hiding information and using punitive measures in desperate efforts to stop its spread. Later, even after scientists identified effective treatments, monopolistic approaches to intellectual property held down production and left millions of people out. It took far too long for leaders to understand that our ‘hard’ economy depends on our ‘soft’ health, that the most important competition is with the virus, not each other, and that health care is an investment, not an expense. A broken global system marked by a lack of knowledge sharing, adequate public health financing and global solidarity cost millions of lives. That is what happened with AIDS; we must not let it happen again with COVID-19.
With AIDS, it was not until this century began that drug production was massively increased and prices reduced, public investment and aid for treatment and prevention shot up, and life expectancies returned to former levels. This shift was prompted partly by the moral case, emphasised by dramatic images of unnecessary suffering and partly by political pressure – but it was also driven by recognition of the huge economic cost of allowing a pandemic to spread. The impact of AIDS on productivity contributed to Africa’s lost decade. AIDS showed too that borders are insecure barriers against pandemics, and devastation left unaddressed anywhere threatens devastation everywhere.
COVID-19 is rapidly exploiting inequalities and the frailties of systems that could have protected societies. It reminds us of the lessons from AIDS: the world has not invested or organised itself to enable a robust response to epidemics. Controlling the virus and recovering from COVID-19 will depend on international cooperation. Three urgent actions stand out.