Health

Life in the Times of Corona: Lockdown & Livelihood in the Lurch

By Dr. Balwant Singh Mehta, Dr. Simi Mehta and Dr. Arjun Kumar
The worldwide spread of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is severely affecting the global economy and as per the recent updates almost one-third to half of the global population are now under some form of a lockdown.

Neglected Diseases Kill More People than COVID-19 – It’s Time to Address Them

By Ifeanyi Nsofor and Adaeze Oreh
As COVID-19 surges globally and leaves fear and panic in its wake, global efforts are underway to find a cure. Yet, the same level of response is lacking for several other infectious diseases that kill millions annually. These kinds of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a broad group of communicable diseases which affect more than two billion people and cost developing economies billions of dollars every year.

A Story of Triumphs and Tribulations: Implementing Services for Autism in Bangladesh

By Saima W. Hossain
A few days ago, a friend said to me that my focus on autism, although rather successful, had “sucked out all energy from other critical areas of social need in Bangladesh.” My friend wanted to know if I would be interested in expanding my visibility and successful approach to autism, to other issues that have apparently been left by the wayside due to everyone’s eagerness to work on an issue popular with the Prime Minister’s daughter! I know my friend’s statement was meant to be provocative, but it also made me reflect on what it was that I had set out to do when I began working in this area in Bangladesh. Has enough been achieved for me to ‘pass on the baton’ to the many others who have now dedicated themselves to this issue, thereby beginning to shift my focus towards addressing other social needs both in Bangladesh and elsewhere?

Supporting Informal Workers During the COVID-19 Crisis

By Vijay Mahajan
Farmers, agricultural labourers, and informal sector workers are the worst hit by COVID-19 and the resulting lockdowns. Here are some steps that the government and banks can take to help them cope financially.

Saluting IPS Journalists and Supporters during Covid19 Pandemic

By Farhana Haque Rahman
As the coronavirus pandemic shifts around the world, now stretching even the developed health services of richer nations to breaking point, here at IPS our dedicated journalists in developing countries are standing strong in giving a voice to the Global South.

India’s Trinity of Challenges

By N Chandra Mohan
The exigencies of combatting the coronavirus pandemic on a war-footing -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a nationwide stay-at-home lockdown for 21 days to break the chain of transmission -- has certainly deflected attention from equally pressing challenges confronting India. The nation’s capital witnessed horrific communal violence when the US President was visiting India, triggering international outrage, including from the South. The economy also deserves attention as growth has been decelerating since 2016-17. With the virus shock, the pace of expansion will contract as the economy shuts down and slides into recession.

Coronavirus & Early Lessons from China

By Helge Berger, Kenneth Kang, & Changyong Rhee, International Monetary Fund (IMF)
The impact of the coronavirus is having a profound and serious impact on the global economy and has sent policymakers looking for ways to respond. China’s experience so far shows that the right policies make a difference in fighting the disease and mitigating its impact—but some of these policies come with difficult economic tradeoffs.

Chinese vs. Western Governance: The case of COVID-19

By Martin Jacques
During January the onslaught in the Western media, notably the US and the UK, against the Chinese government’s handling of the Covid-19 epidemic, was merciless. The Chinese government stood accused of an inhumane attitude towards its people, secrecy, a cover-up, and an overwhelming concern for its own survival above all other considerations.

Far From Home During a Pandemic

By Upasana Khadka
Nepali workers in Qatar who have been quarantined in a camp that has been closed off for two weeks say that aside from concerns about jobs and health, they are now also worried about their families back home.

TRENDS E-Symposium to Address Post-Corona Globalization Challenges

By Ehtesham Shahid
TRENDS Research & Advisory is organizing its first-ever E-Symposium to discuss the global impacts of the COVID-19 crisis and offer insights on the steps needed to mitigate its negative effects worldwide. This will be the first online symposium of its kind to be organized since the outbreak of the coronavirus in the Gulf and Middle East region.

A Positive Policy Turn for People Most Vulnerable To Drought Worldwide

By UNCCD Press Release
The international community is developing policy measures and actions to help the people most vulnerable to drought to take early action to avoid loss of life, and the heavy and growing losses of livelihoods and damage to property and ecosystems following droughts.

East Asian Lessons for Controlling Covid-19

By Nazihah Muhamad Noor and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
By the third week of March 2020, the number of Covid-19 deaths in Italy had overtaken the number of deaths in China. Authorities all over the world are restricting the movements of their populations as part of efforts to control the spread of Covid-19.

COVID-19 in the Time of Insecurity

By HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Humankind has outlived multiple pandemics in the course of world history. The kingdoms and states of Central and Western Europe abolished the institution of serfdom once it had become clear that medieval rule in the aftermath of devastating pestilence would founder without ending the dependency and servitude that characterized the Dark Ages. The vulnerability of entire nations to the risk of total collapse in the absence of widespread access to the most basic healthcare in the Spanish Flu spurred governments to build the public health systems that have made the progress and development of the last hundred years possible. If the past is prologue, then continuity and survival command that we change.

COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan

By PRESS RELEASE
A global approach is the only way to fight COVID-19, the UN says as it launches humanitarian response plan

Is It Time to Postpone the 2020 Climate Summit?

By Felix Dodds and Michael Strauss
With the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the planet and the governments of both wealthy and poorer nations overwhelmed by the demands of managing a response, the scheduling of this year’s critical UN Climate Summit is suddenly in doubt.

TB, HIV and COVID-19: Urgent Questions as Three Epidemics Collide

Tuberculosis (TB) and HIV pose a significant burden on South Africa’s health system. There’s a close relationship between the two. About 60% of TB patients are also HIV-positive. The novel coronavirus (Sars-CoV-2) is likely to be of particular concern for communities with high rates of TB and HIV.

“In the Beginning was the Word”: Why Covid-19 Renders Words even more Powerful

By Prof. Azza Karam
I was able to take office as the secretary general to the largest global interfaith organization – Religions for Peace - with interreligious councils (IRCs) composed of senior-most religious leaders representing their religious institutions, in 90 countries, and 6 regional IRCs, a week before we had to ask all employees to work from home, in compliance with New York State law.

Djibouti Intensifies Awareness-raising Efforts Against FGM

By Mantoe Phakathi
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is still widely practised in the African country of Djibouti. Despite efforts by the government and development agencies to curb this practice, culture, tradition and religion continue to slow down progress.

Health Workers Are the Frontline Soldiers Against Covid-19. Let’s Protect Them

By Mutahi Kagwe and Siddharth Chatterjee
Many soldiers have seen first-hand the horrors of war and, terrifying though it often was, they knew who they were fighting, and could recognise their enemy.

Stronger UN Leadership Needed to Cope with Coronavirus Threat

By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic is hard to predict as events are still unfolding, and estimates vary dramatically. UNCTAD estimates lost output in the order of US$1 trillion, just over a third of Bloomberg’s expectation of US$2.7 trillion in losses. The OECD expects global economic growth to halve from already anaemic levels.

Arts, Culture – Trying to Keep the Lights on amid Covid-19

By SWAN
With the spread of the Covid-19 disease, the arts and culture sectors have seen a flood of cancellations and postponements, affecting artists around the world and putting the global 2,000-billion-dollar creative industry at risk.
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