No one is safe until everyone is safe

No one is safe until everyone is safe

Notes taken at a On-Line Meeting of Sheffield University on Politics, People, Protection in a post-pandemic world.

It was stated that Covid is not a homogenous disease. It affects different people in different ways. The simple fact is that we are not safe until everyone is safe. There are possibilities of new strains and new variants. Long Covid is a serious problem. It is possible that people who have suffered slight effects from Covid may be subject to long Covid.

Has there been a change in the culture of clinical research?

The fact of the reduced investment in global and public health was raised. It was noted that we were not without warnings, going back to SARS in 2003. What was noticeable was the rapid spread and the scale of the effect. The UK Influenza Pandemic Preparedness strategy 2013 was referred to. The re has been a conflict between central and local control!

The inequalities within society relate to poverty, disability, ethnicity, homelessness and migrants.

Public health is inherently political. The adherence to the public health messages is influenced by public trust in Government. There needs to be an independent public health voice. The threat is global, we are not safe until everyone is safe. There needs to be an equitable distribution of vaccine. The key issues are:-

Underlying inequalities

Investment in Health

Better Communication

Better use of science

Global Coordination

There is a need for International Cooperation, including greater support for the World Health Organisation (WHO). Nothing is new – SARS 2003. Reference was made to the Report A Safer Future. Global health Security in the 21^st Century . At the beginning of the crisis International co-operation disappeared. There has been scientific co-operation on vaccines. However, global inequality has been in the unequal access to vaccines. The Covax mechanism was mentioned which seeks the equitable supply of vaccines but this is underfunded. Rich countries have bought up vaccines, often more than they need. There has been global mismanagement. Part of the problem has been the resurgence of populist momentum, we have been unlucky in our leaders.

The political challenge we face is to learn and embed the lessons that have arisen from the experience during Covid. What are needed are :-

Stable cooperative mechanisms

Strengthen International bodies such as the WHO both financially and in terms of leadership

Invest more in Health, wider and globally

Better and more reliable mutual aid systems

Deal with health inequalities

At this time even rivals need stick together. Collaboration is needed to oppose the rich nations seeking to stop changes in the production of vaccines that would benefit poorer nations.

Zoomshock – the effect of people working from home and thereby changing the social and economic relations within towns and cities. These changes will stick. What happens when everybody who can work from home does so? This raises certain questions. What does the economic activity in towns and cities look like?

Where do workers work pre pandemic? In City Centres

Where do they live? Not in City centres

Zoomshock is the difference

In Sheffield, Cardiff and Birmingham around 27% of jobs moved from the centre to the suburbs. In London the figure was 42%. This changes where we spend our time and has an effect upon retail. Restaurants, hairdressers, and local services of many kinds. This is demand shock.

Working from home has benefited the higher paid much more than the lower paid. The pandemic has created difficulties for low paid, local service economy. Permanent working from home means permanent problems in many areas.

Key Issues:- Health care can respond but it took a lot of work and a shift in resources

The public health threat affects the whole of society

We may think of our country as well developed but we can learn from other countries who have done better, and from the WHO

More flexibility about where we work is desirable

Heath – need for more capacity

Different ways of working

More money Distribution of resources

Health and Social Care (home, hothubs, rather than hospitals)

Real life planning

Cultural change in health care.

Greater working together

inter connections

Systems, such as the WHO are underfunded. It is a question of political will and of sovereignty. We need to reconsider the benefits of global co-operation. We need to allow the natural development of flexible working. In terms of technology, we need to share information, data and knowledge. We need greater collaboration within places and between places (countries). Diplomacy must move with the times.

On social media, there is a problem of false information. Control is too close to Government. Disinformation is global. People in general have a misunderstanding of probability. Young people need to be able to think about and interpret data. Which sources of information should be believed? We need to start early in life to educate children about scientific communications.

There is a parallel with climate change. There is conflict between short term self interest as opposed to what needs to be done. The easy choice are not the right choices politically. The Government rhetoric about sharing vaccines is not being shown in practice. What is needed is a solidarity approach not a charity approach. This is a political choice. There is not enough vaccine so there needs to be some form of rationing. Just covering one country at a time is not the answer.

With regard to lockdown – there is conflict between the economy and protecting he health and care of workers. We need to make sure that restrictions are temporary during the pandemic. There is a danger of authoritarianism over democracy. How we react in the future is a political choice. There is a danger of a future period of austerity. Inequality, social, ethnic, structural racism, those living in poorer areas , over crowding, jobs where workers cannot work from home, a life time of other problems with problems acerbated by the existing system.

Important Steps:-

Responsiveness of Research Community

Think creatively about work and living conditions in preparation for future problems

What we do between emergencies, input money, political capacity into global structures like WHO and explain this to people.

More research into public behaviour

Political control of Government, health, people

How to build on all of this.

With thanks to Sheffield University and the Academics who spoke at the meeting. They have not been named because these were notes I took during the online meeting and I may at times have misheard or misrepresented what was said, but I express my appreciation of the contribution of those involved.

Scribart 22.4.21