Cholera has largely been beaten in the west, but it still kills tens of thousands of people in poorer countries every year. As we search for a cure for coronavirus, we have to make sure it will be available to everyone, not just to those in wealthy nations. By Neil Singh
We log in every day at 7.45am. One by one, we join an array of faces on our screens. We doctors aren’t used to video-conferencing like this, and still greet each other with excited waving hands. Since the coronavirus crisis began, these daily virtual meetings have proved an invaluable way to keep up to speed on clinical guidelines, in-house protocols and staff wellbeing – all of which are changing every day.
But these meetings also bring us news that we take more personally: how many of our patients have symptoms? How many have tested positive? How many have died? These are important questions, for sure, but my public health training reminds me to think globally. The coming year will see developments that will allow us to bring the virus under control in the west, but what about in other countries? I cannot help but think of my relatives in India, and what this pandemic will mean for them – not just now, but in the future. The really important question is not who will die of coronavirus tomorrow, but in 200 years’ time.
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