• #COVID-19 gives the lie to global health #expertise - The Lancet
    https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30739-X/abstract

    As the #coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak began spreading in Europe and the USA, a chart started circulating online showing ratings from the 2019 Global Health Security Index, an assessment of 195 countries’ capacity to face infectious disease outbreaks, compiled by the US-based Nuclear Threat Initiative and the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health’s Center for Health Security. The USA was ranked first, and the UK second; South Korea was ranked ninth, and China 51st; most African countries were at the bottom of the ranking.

    Things look different now. The US and UK Governments have provided among the world’s worst responses to the pandemic, with sheer lies and incompetence from the former, and near-criminal delays and obfuscation from the latter. Neither country has widespread testing available, as strongly recommended by WHO, alongside treatment and robust contact tracing.1 In neither country do health workers have adequate access to personal protective equipment; nor are there nearly enough hospital beds to accommodate the onslaught of patients. Even worse, by refusing to ease #sanctions against Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba, the US has crippled the ability of other countries to respond, continuing to block medical supplies and other humanitarian aid.2

    #compétences #santé_publique