Thank you Tom for this initiative and thanks very much Shobha for your very evocative description of what is going on in India.
I am really concerned that the public health response across Asia and Africa- indeed the majority world at large is following the pattern of ‘lockdowns’ that is promoted in the west. See the excellent piece in The Conversation by Broadbent and Smart from the University of Johannesburg “Why a one-size-fits-all approach to COVID-19 could have lethal consequences” http://theconversation.com/why-a-one-size-fits-all-approach-to-covid-19-....
Is there good implementation science that is informing these lockdowns? Surely the devastation of poverty, malnutrition, TB etc which will only get worse with the disastrous economic consequences of the Indian government’s 21 day lockdown will have far greater impact on children than COVID19 will have. Not to mention the other social consequences including police brutality, family violence, xenophobia- all of which have already seen documented rises across many jurisdictions.
In Australia, we have almost 4000 confirmed cases, 16 deaths (so 0.4% mortality rate- among the lowest) and over 211,000 tested (2% of those tested). The government is going with a proportional response to COVID19- so not quite a total lockdown (schools still open in some states), but getting very close. Very few children infected.
Warm Regards
Shanti Raman, PhD, FRACP
Director - Community Paediatrics, South Western Sydney Local Health District
Conjoint Associate Professor – UNSW Australia
Health Services Building Level 3, Cnr Campbell & Goulburn St, Liverpool NSW 2170, Australia
Tel +61 2 8738 4844 | Fax +61 2 8738 4800 | Mob +61 434 328 011 |
Email: shanti.raman@health.nsw.gov.au<mailto:shanti.raman@health.nsw.gov.au>; s.raman@unsw.edu.au<mailto:s.raman@unsw.edu.au>
CHIFA profile: Shanti Raman is Medical Director, Child Protection, at the Sydney South West Area Health Service in Australia. Professional interests include: Child public health, Child rights, Poverty and child health, Ethnic Monorities, and International health. shanti.raman AT sswahs.nsw.gov.a
