According to the latest UN report, statistics behind each 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) have declined due to COVID-19. Compared to the last few years, 2022 has been regressive. COVID-19 did cause an economic depression which in turn affects plenty of global projects.
However it’s argued that the world was experiencing numerous problems that existed before the pandemic.
Phillip Teale, Diversity and Inclusion Researcher, helps us understand the myth of COVID-19 through《The Icons》.
How should we solve the uneven distribution of resources during the pandemic?
There are numerous competing global interests and issues that pre-date COVID-19. Some of these issues include falling birth rates as well as the aging global population. There is a growing need for further early health interventions for marginalized groups.
This means that COVID-19 has exacerbated existing access to public healthcare services for high risk groups. In this circumstance, access
Access to healthcare has become a huge topic in the world.
Phillip indicated, “Many countries are facing the aging population and low birth rate. With the existence of the virus, effective use of medical resources has become more critical than it used to be. For now the need for interventions is greater than ever with a focus on prevention as a cure, future economic and social burdens can be decreased if we act now.”
Phillip sees Taiwan and Hong-Kong as great examples that governments and people should look for the history of COVID-19 globally. The 2003 SARS pandemic taught Hong-Kong some important lessons. The virus impacted the region seriously but they learned how to manage the problems so now they can handle the 2020 COVID-19 by means of sanitation and border control.
Both Taiwan and Hong-Kong were able to respond very quickly to reports of COVID-19 in early 2020. For example people in Taiwan started wearing masks in public prior to March 2020.
“Save the supplies for those who need it and take precautions, that is the correct way!”
Fake news construct fear
Phillip mentioned that since the outbreak of the pandemic, there has been the spread of fake news, that promotes various mistakes:
There seems to have been significant amounts of false information circulating prior to the March COVID-19 WHO announcement in 2020. These news reports have distorted views of public health and East Asia.There was a growing number of false reports published in the media from January to March of 2020, which also worsened future misunderstanding of public health, Asia and the virus.”
The Lancet, a medical research journal, has re-ignited debate on the origins and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic by publishing a reassessment of the total number of deaths globally (18 million at least with their estimated numbers).
“COVID-19 has indirectly caused the decline of various SDGs indicators, which is the time for the whole world to cooperate to prevent the spread of the epidemic, right? Instead of arguing, blaming, or even spreading fake news, it is better for everyone to discuss how to solve the problem as equals.”
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