Examples | Social issues - Part 1 | Health

The first part of social issues: Health and the implications of COVID-19

Dylan
8
Oct 17, 2022

Health
Drastic measures against covid-19: 
The Vietnamese government enacts efficacious approaches such as social
distancing, encouraging Bluezone applications, implementing face mask
regulation. These measures astonishingly flatten the curve and minimize death
tolls because of COVID-19 to zero. 

Vaccine nationalism 
The major drawback of vaccine nationalism is that it puts countries with fewer
resources and bargaining power at a disadvantage. Thus, if countries with a large
number of cases lag in obtaining the vaccine, the disease will continue to disrupt
global supply chains and, as a result, economies around the world.

The alternative to arrest vaccine nationalism is a global collaboration, which is

being done through the WHO-backed COVAX Facility mechanism. So far, more
than 170 countries have expressed interest: about 90 low- and middle-income
countries and 80 fully self-financing countries.

Exponential growth bias: The numerical error behind COVID-19

If the number of grains on a chess board doubled for each square, the 64th would
hold 18 quintillion. Likewise bank balance, if you invest something early, your buck
will reach a number that you haven’t imagined before. But people often make wrong
economic decisions.

Bias blind spot: when people believe themselves to be less susceptible to error than
others

How exponential growth biases can affect:

 The exponential growth bias was prevalent in people’s understanding of the
virus’s spread, with most people vastly underestimating the rate of increase. -

People mistakenly perceive the coronavirus to grow in a linear manner. => not
understand the importance/ the hazardous situations

Susceptibility to the exponential growth bias can predict reduced compliance with
the WHO’s recommendations

Some of the graphical representations in the media may have been counter-
productive: exponential growth looks more linear than it really is, which could
reinforce the exponential growth bias.

Solutions:

People’s views are malleable.

Small changes in framing can matter

The exponential nature of virus needs to be made more salient in coverage of

the pandemic: the study shows how media and government should report on a
pandemic in such a situation. Not only report the numbers of today and growth
over the past week, but also explain what wil happen in the next days, week,
month, if the same accelerating growth persists.

How COVID-19 redefines the concept of sustainability.

2005 World Summit: three goals: Economic development, social development and
environmental protections

The UN, in 2015, listed 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)

The significance of adding human health as one of the SDGs can be seen
through the results of the current COVID-19 pandemic, evidenced by the
overwhelming importance of health, and the fear of losing it, as depicted by the
current COVID-19 crisis.

Smaller aspects:

Many applaud the freedom for animals during the COVID-19 pandemic, but
this is a fallacy because species that are in most danger of eradication are
ones that constantly need human intervention to survive.
 For example, in Africa, a massive ecosystem business supports wide
conservation efforts toward protected lands near Mount Kilimanjaro.

Non-harmful human activities can be seen as important as food and water for
the survival of certain species.

Large industries, such as the airline industry, have begun to suffer insurmountable
losses - so much so that they are now asking for governmental support in the form
of bailouts.

Switching to a more domestic supply chain would reduce dependence on an

increasingly fractured global supply system. However, while this would better
ensure that people get the goods they need, this shift would likely also increase
costs to corporations and consumers.

The new reality for the educational system that COVID-19 has created involves
the use of online learning, but it can be said that only the wealthy have access to a
stable internet connection and technology that enables this type of learning.

The fact that health is no longer only a demographic or an individual-level issue,

but rather a global pandemic, shows the true nature of its importance, and its
impact helps create a fourth pillar of global sustainability.

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