Sandro Galea
- Published in print:
- 2022
- Published Online:
- November 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197576427
- eISBN:
- 9780197576458
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780197576427.003.0003
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health
This chapter explains how the world that faced COVID-19 was not a world free of existential threats, merely from the widespread knowledge of them. The pandemic revealed just how vulnerable we have ...
More
This chapter explains how the world that faced COVID-19 was not a world free of existential threats, merely from the widespread knowledge of them. The pandemic revealed just how vulnerable we have always been, and how vulnerable we will remain unless we learn its lessons. The first step to doing so is understanding the ways in which the world is still unhealthy and the forces which enable this poor health. This means looking at health disparities, which emerge from the misalignment of the structures that underlie health—the social, economic, political, and geographic factors which unfold across time and distance to shape our world. Creating a healthy world means engaging with health on this level—and we cannot prevent the next pandemic without creating a healthy world. The chapter discusses how we can do so, by first looking at the ways we have fallen short. The challenges of widespread disease, the proliferation of unsafe behaviors like smoking, and other forms of preventable mortality all speak of a world that is still unhealthy. The chapter then looks at how these challenges intersected with COVID-19. Finally, it considers the role global cooperation and international institutions played in addressing COVID-19, and their importance for creating a better future for health.Less
This chapter explains how the world that faced COVID-19 was not a world free of existential threats, merely from the widespread knowledge of them. The pandemic revealed just how vulnerable we have always been, and how vulnerable we will remain unless we learn its lessons. The first step to doing so is understanding the ways in which the world is still unhealthy and the forces which enable this poor health. This means looking at health disparities, which emerge from the misalignment of the structures that underlie health—the social, economic, political, and geographic factors which unfold across time and distance to shape our world. Creating a healthy world means engaging with health on this level—and we cannot prevent the next pandemic without creating a healthy world. The chapter discusses how we can do so, by first looking at the ways we have fallen short. The challenges of widespread disease, the proliferation of unsafe behaviors like smoking, and other forms of preventable mortality all speak of a world that is still unhealthy. The chapter then looks at how these challenges intersected with COVID-19. Finally, it considers the role global cooperation and international institutions played in addressing COVID-19, and their importance for creating a better future for health.
Sandro Galea
- Published in print:
- 2022
- Published Online:
- November 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197576427
- eISBN:
- 9780197576458
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780197576427.003.0012
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health
This chapter highlights the importance of humility in preventing the contagion next time. Shaping a healthier world means informing a public conversation which prioritizes what matters most for ...
More
This chapter highlights the importance of humility in preventing the contagion next time. Shaping a healthier world means informing a public conversation which prioritizes what matters most for health. It means elevating the subjects discussed in this book to the center of the national conversation about health, a conversation currently focused on the curative power of medicine at the expense of the forces that shape health. In this task, humility is key. Humility helps us to listen and engage with respect, compassion, and an openness to alternative perspectives. Throughout COVID-19, we saw how hubris and closeminded partisanship undermined, again and again, the possibility of such a conversation, hindering efforts to support health. Going forward, we need an approach to health which embraces humility and constructive engagement with the public conversation, towards the aim of building a healthier world.Less
This chapter highlights the importance of humility in preventing the contagion next time. Shaping a healthier world means informing a public conversation which prioritizes what matters most for health. It means elevating the subjects discussed in this book to the center of the national conversation about health, a conversation currently focused on the curative power of medicine at the expense of the forces that shape health. In this task, humility is key. Humility helps us to listen and engage with respect, compassion, and an openness to alternative perspectives. Throughout COVID-19, we saw how hubris and closeminded partisanship undermined, again and again, the possibility of such a conversation, hindering efforts to support health. Going forward, we need an approach to health which embraces humility and constructive engagement with the public conversation, towards the aim of building a healthier world.
