COVID-19: Why We Must Reset Our Thinking

By Ian GoldinOxford University, May 12 2020 (IPS) Covid-19 is the most significant event since the Second World War. It changes everything. It brings great sadness to many of us as we lose loved ones, as we see people losing their jobs, and as we see people around the world suffering immensely. But it also provides an opportunity for a reset and new start for humanity. It teaches us how closely we are all interwoven together, how a problem in one part of the world is a problem for all of us. It gives us time to pause and reflect about our individual lives, allowing us to reset and reprioritise. And it provides an opportunity for businesses and politicians to reset too. Even isolationist politicians must now understand that we can only thrive as humanity if everyone thrives. We can only prosper if the world is prospering. And we can only be healthy if people everywhere are healthy. Covid-19 provides a call for action. Not only to address the medical and associated economic emergency, but to ensure that we will never see a pandemic which could be even more dreadful than this one. If we can learn to stop pandemics, we would have learnt to cooperate to stop the other great threats that we face, like climate change, antibiotic resistance, cascading financial crises, and cyber and other systemic risks. We need to learn from history. The First World War was followed by austerity and nationalist attacks on those who were blamed for the conflict. What followed was the Great Depressi...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Climate Change Development & Aid Economy & Trade Education Featured Financial Crisis Global Globalisation Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies Labour TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news