Obligating healthcare revolution pledge
By Bhaskar Anand
In 1798, Thomas Robert Malthus published “An Essay on the Principle of Population,” which established “Malthusian catastrophe” as a well-known demographic doctrine. He contrasted the population rise to the growth in food supply and other resources and speculated eventual deplorable living conditions leading to future difficulties.
This presumption proved false by the mid-20th century due to increased agricultural yields resulting from revolutions in agricultural technology such as fertilizer application, irrigation, increased soil tillage and improved farming practices. However, this failed Malthusianism became relevant in this pandemic era (21st century) when healthcare resources did not meet public demand, resulting in a healthcare predicament.
The healthcare crisis and frequently recurring waves of infections acted as a chain reaction that overwhelmed healthcare systems around the globe. Over 281 million individuals have already been infected, and 5.4 million have died due to this virus infection and related complications. And 8.8 billion vaccine doses have already been administered, resulting in 3.7 billion individuals (less than half of the global population) being fully immunized. However, the disproportionate sharing of vaccines is a major problem that might fuel this pandemic through the rising variants of concern. The recent surge of the highly contagious Omicron variant was similar to the phoenix rising from the ashes.
The World Health Organization set an initial target of vaccinating 40 percent of the population of every country by the end of 2021. Despite this, wealthy countries like the U.S. have already immunized more than 60 percent of their people, while vaccination in low-income countries lags far behind. For instance, in South Africa, only 27 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, while in Nigeria, Papua New Guinea and Sudan, that number is less than 3 percent. The emergence of Omicron from South Africa underscores the consequences of vaccine inequity.
Mounting evidence from animal studies suggests that Omicron does not readily replicate in lung tissue and might be less dangerous. On the other hand, WHO warned that the rampant spread of Omicron could foster more dangerous novel variants. Moreover, the soaring spread of COVID infections might lead to hybrid contagious ailments, such as the recent detection of florona (a portmanteau of flu and corona) in Israel. This emergence of new COVID variants and hybrids with other infectious diseases might lead to unprecedented cataclysm.
To avoid such a cataclysmic event, we desperately need to boost our healthcare system with a global healthcare revolution similar to the agricultural one that happened in the 20th century.This revolution might nullify the global healthcare crunch that emerged from a deficit in demand and supply of healthcare resources and fulfill the elevated demand of the already risen global population. Any narcissistic approach at the individual or national level in addressing this healthcare emergency might lead to the callous slow annihilation of humankind.
Additionally, we also need to keep in mind that immunization of an individual or even a whole country cannot ensure safety. The virus will keep proliferating in unvaccinated populations living far away and reach sooner or later to fuel this persistent COVID crunch via variant crisis. In simple words, like the global warming problem, COVID only becomes incapacitated if we behave selflessly as beings of one single planet.
Bhaskar Anand (https://www.bhaskaranandjha.com) is a doctoral student at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University.