COVID-19 is exposing deadly gaps in global public health

COVID-19 is exposing deadly gaps in global public health

COVID-19 could have brought out the best in humanity. Instead, public health programs have fallen short, exposing us to a resurgence of diseases. A baby is vaccinated against malaria in Malawi. (WHO/Mark Nieuwenhof) COVID-19 has shut down vaccination programs around...

Headlines about COVID-19 understandably tend to focus on the current state of affairs — cases, hospitalizations, deaths, new variants, vaccines. It takes the kind of expertise that Maggie Fox has earned in years of writing about science and health to look beyond today to see what the pandemic means for tomorrow. Citing the latest research, Fox explores how public health services are failing to cope with myriad illnesses that don’t stop in their tracks just because there’s a pandemic. The outlook is not bright.

Exercise: Ask your students to speak to a local epidemiologist to learn how COVID-19 is affecting public health services nearby and the impact the pandemic is having on the fight against other illnesses.

The world is struggling to manage its aging population

The world is struggling to manage its aging population

The world’s population is aging. How are we to pay for the pensions and healthcare of a burgeoning number of elderly? Elderly exercise with wooden dumbbells in Tokyo, Japan, 16 September 2019. (EPA-EFE/FRANCK ROBICHON) Call it baby bust and oldster boom — two...

Population growth has long been seen as a threat to humanity, and government efforts to limit births have either failed (India) or led to imbalances and inequities (China). Bernd Debusmann takes a look at the problems that a slowing rate in population growth poses for societies — problems that younger generations will need to manage in coming decades. Global aging will require tough decisions so societies can support the elderly — decisions your students will be asked to make.

Exercise: Ask your students to examine their country’s demographic trends and to compare its policies with those pursued by nations with a similar demographic outlook.

I was bullied for my dark skin but now reject colourism.

I was bullied for my dark skin but now reject colourism.

Mocked for my dark skin, I long loathed myself and yearned for a lighter complexion. But now I fight colourism and defend diversity. “Leaning away from un-African beauty standards,” by Alana Muchemi, August 2020. The author is in the yellow shirt....

Adolescence is a time of self-discovery, and Clarice Gillian Achola of the African Leadership Academy finds that the discrimination she has faced since her days on the playground plagues large numbers of girls and women with dark skin. With detail and sensitivity, the author gives shape to the abstract notion of colourism, then moves from the first to the third person pronoun as she extends her personal battle to a broader campaign to save others from bigotry.

Poor nations lag in COVID vaccination, posing global peril

Poor nations lag in COVID vaccination, posing global peril

COVID-19 vaccination programs are moving slowly in poor nations, threatening the world’s health and raising risks for rich countries’ economies. From ourworldindata.org Sometime very soon, the world will reach a significant milestone in its battle to...

As nations struggle with the terrible health and economic consequences of COVID-19, the rush is on to roll out vaccines to as many people as possible. Leaders of developed economies might be excused for protecting their citizens above all — if it didn’t mean leaving out masses of people in the Global South. Jeremy Solomons taps official data and experts to spell out the dangers for both poor and rich nations alike if steps are not taken to ensure vaccines reach the four corners of the world. Ask students how they would ensure the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines — and whether they would be willing to help pay for it.

Tag: World Health Organization