Faculty Research

Permanent URI for this collection

https://uwispace.sta.uwi.edu/handle/2139/49719

Browse

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8

Canada’s role in strengthening global health security during the COVID-19 pandemic
(Biomed Central (Springer Nature), 2020) Chattu, Vijay Kumar; Adisesh, Anil; Yaya, Sanni
The world is confronted by the current pandemic of Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19), which is a wake-up call for all nations irrespective of their development status or geographical location. Since the start of the century we have seen five big infectious outbreaks which proved that epidemics are no more regarded as historic and geographically confined threats. The Canadian government underlined that these infectious disease outbreaks are threats to global health security and disrupt societal wellbeing and development. In this context, the Public Health Agency of Canada is proactive and has shown its preparedness for outbreaks of emerging and epidemic-prone diseases, and in dealing with these pathogens. Even before the declaration of pandemic, Canada has proved its global health leadership by ensuring collective action and multisectoral coordination which still remains a serious challenge especially for low and middle- income countries with existing poor health systems. In this article we discuss how Canada is addressing the global challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic through its leadership and practice of global health diplomacy.
COVID-19 Pandemic as an Excellent Opportunity for Global Health Diplomacy
(Frontiers in Public Health, 2021) Taghizade, Sanaz; Chattu, Vijay Kumar; Jaafaripooyan, Ebrahim; Kevany, Sebastian
Undoubtedly, the COVID-19 pandemic is not the first and most frightening global pandemic, and it may not be the last. At the very least, this phenomenon has though seriously challenged the health systems of the world; it has created a new perspective on the value of national, regional, and international cooperation during crises. The post-coronavirus world could be a world of intensified nationalist rivalries on the economic revival and political influence. However, strengthening cooperation among nations at different levels will lead to the growth of health, economy, and security. The current situation is a touchstone for international actors in coordinating the efforts in similar future crises. At present, this pandemic crisis cannot be resolved except through joint international cooperation, global cohesion, and multilateralism. This perspective concludes that the pandemic could be an excellent opportunity for the scope of global health diplomacy (GHD) and how it can be applied and practiced for strengthening five global arenas, namely (1) International Cooperation and Global Solidarity, (2) Global Economy, Trade and Development, (3) Global Health Security, (4) Strengthening health systems, and (5) Addressing inequities to achieve the global health targets. GHD proves to be very useful for negotiating better policies, stronger partnerships, and achieving international cooperation in this phase with many geopolitical shifts and nationalist mindset among many nations at this stage of COVID-19 vaccine roll-out
COVID-19 pandemic containment in the Caribbean Region: A review of case-management and public health strategies
(AIMS Public Health, 2021) Umakanthan, Srikanth; Chauhan, Anuradha; Gupta, Madan Mohan; Sahu, Pradeep Kumar; Bukelo, Maryann M; Chattu, Vijay Kumar
COVID-19 emerged initially from Wuhan, Hubei province, China, in late December 2019, and since then, it has spread globally to be declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The Caribbean region started reporting COVID-19 cases in early March 2020, triggering new regional public health crises. The initial suspects and confirmed cases across the Caribbean countries were mainly imported cases and from cruise ships. The clinical manifestations varied from fever, cough, and malaise in mild cases to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and shock in severe cases. The Caribbean Public Health Agency has provided frequent updates on the preventive strategies and quarantine measures across the Caribbean member states. COVID-19 has had a serious impact on the Caribbean region’s health system, economy, and psychology. This review presents the Caribbean perspective of COVID-19, detailing the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, management, and preventive and surveillance measures. Vaccine hesitancy was found to be a major challenge that needs appropriate health education strategies to address the public. Strong leadership and regional collaboration among the Caribbean member states are necessary to provide optimal real-time data to the public and implement appropriate and effective guidelines in the island states
COVID-19 Vaccine, TRIPS, and Global Health Diplomacy: India’s Role at the WTO Platform
(BioMed Research International, 2021) Chattu, Vijay Kumar; Singh, Bawa; Kaur, Jaspal; Jakovljevic, Mihajlo
In light of the devastation caused by COVID-19, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and vaccine research and development (R&D) have been occupying a prominent position in the field of global health diplomacy (GHD). Most countries, international organizations, and charitable organizations have been engaged in the R&D of COVID-19 vaccines to ensure timely affordability and accessibility to all countries. Concomitantly, the World Trade Organization (WTO) provides some provisions and enforcements regarding copyrights, patents, trademarks, geographical indications, and industrial designs. Given these safeguards, it is considered that intellectual property rights (IPRs) have become major barriers to the affordability and accessibility of vaccines/medicines/technology, particularly to the developing/least developed countries. Realizing the gravity of the pandemic impact, as well as its huge population and size, India has elevated this issue in its global health diplomacy by submitting a joint proposal with South Africa to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for a temporary waiver of IPRs to ensure timely affordability and accessibility of COVID-19 medical products to all countries. However, the issue of the temporary waive off had become a geopolitical issue. Countries that used to claim per se as strong advocates of human rights, egalitarianism, and healthy democracy have opposed this proposal. In this contrasting milieu, this paper is aimed at examining how the TRIPS has become a barrier for developing countries’ development and distribution of vaccines/technology; secondly, how India strategizes its role in the WTO in pursuant of its global health diplomacy? We conclude that the IPRs regime should not become a barrier to the accessibility/affordability of essential drugs and vaccines. To ensure access, India needs to get more engaged in GHD with all the involved global stakeholders to get strong support for their joint proposal. The developed countries that rejected/resisted the proposal can rethink their full support
Global health diplomacy at the intersection of trade and health in the COVID-19 era
(Health Promotion Perspective, 2021) Chattu, Vijay Kumar; Pooransingh, Shalini; Allahverdipour, Hamid
Global health diplomacy has gained significant importance and undoubtedly remained high on the agendas of many nations, regional and global platforms amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Many countries have realized the importance of the health sector and the value of a healthy workforce. However, there is little control on issues related to trade that impact on human health due to the dominance of profit-oriented business lobbies. A balance, however, needs to be struck between economic profits and a healthy global population. This paper aimed to highlight the importance of building capacity in global health diplomacy, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic so that health personnel may effectively negotiate on the multisectoral stage to secure the resources they need. The recent proposal to waive off certain provisions of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement for the prevention, containment and treatment of COVID-19 by India and South Africa at the World Trade Organization (WTO) presents an important opportunity for all governments to unite and stand up for public health, global solidarity, and equitable access at the international level so that both developed and developing nations may enjoy improved health outcomes related to the COVID-19 pandemic
Politics of disease control in Africa and the critical role of global health diplomacy: A systematic review
(Health Promotion Perspective, 2021) Chattu, Vijay Kumar; Knight, W. Andy; Adisesh, Anil; Yaya, Sanni; Reddy, K. Srikanth; Di Ruggiero, Erica; Aginam, Obijiofor; Aslanyan, Garry; Clarke, Michael; Massoud, M. Rashad; Jha, Ashish
Background: Africa is facing the triple burden of communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and nutritional disorders. Multilateral institutions, bilateral arrangements, and philanthropies have historically privileged economic development over health concerns. That focus has resulted in weak health systems and inadequate preparedness when there are outbreaks of diseases. This review aims to understand the politics of disease control in Africa and global health diplomacy’s (GHD’s) critical role. Methods: A literature review was done in Medline/PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, and Google scholar search engines. Keywords included MeSH and common terms related to the topics: “Politics,” “disease control,” “epidemics/ endemics,” and “global health diplomacy” in the “African” context. The resources also included reports of World Health Organization, United Nations and resolutions of the World Health Assembly (WHA). Results: African countries continue to struggle in their attempts to build health systems for disease control that are robust enough to tackle the frequent epidemics that plague the continent. The politics of disease control requires the crafting of cooperative partnerships to accommodate the divergent interests of multiple actors. Recent outbreaks of COVID-19 and Ebola had a significant impact on African economies. It is extremely important to prioritize health in the African development agendas. The African Union (AU) should leverage the momentum of the rise of GHD to (i) navigate the politics of global health governance in an interconnected world (ii) develop robust preparedness and disease response strategies to tackle emerging and reemerging disease epidemics in the region (iii) address the linkages between health and broader human security issues driven by climate change-induced food, water, and other insecurities (iv) mobilize resources and capacities to train health officials in the craft of diplomacy. Conclusion: The AU, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), and African Centres for Disease Control should harmonize their plans and strategies and align them towards a common goal that integrates health in African development agendas. The AU must innovatively harness the practice and tools of GHD towards developing the necessary partnerships with relevant actors in the global health arena to achieve the health targets of the Sustainable Development Goals
Rethinking and strengthening the Global Health Diplomacy through triangulated nexus between policy makers, scientists and the community in light of COVID-19 global crisis
(Biomed Central (Springer Nature), 2021) AlKhaldi, Mohammed; James, Nigel; Chattu, Vijay Kumar; Ahmed, Sara; Meghari, Hamza; Kaiser, Kirsty; Ijsselmuiden, Carel; Tanner, Marcel
The COVID-19 pandemic is considerably the biggest global health challenge of this modern era. Spreading across all regions of the world, this corona virus disease has disrupted even some of the most advanced economies and healthcare systems. With an increasing global death toll and no near end in sight, questions on the efficacy of global response mechanisms, including the role and relevancy of global health institutions, have emerged. Using a reflexive content analytic approach, this study sheds light on some of these questions, underscoring the disconnect between science, policymaking, and society. Global health funding approaches; politicization of the pandemic, including political blame gaming; mistrust of government and other institutions; and a lack of robust accountability measures are some of the pandemic response obstacles. However, COVID-19 has also presented an opportunity for a collaboration that may potentially solidify global solidarity. A pandemic response built on strategic global health diplomacy, vaccine diplomacy, and science diplomacy can spur both political and economic benefits, advancing development, health security, and justice. The virus thrives and flourishes in face of political divisions and lack of cooperation. While the current global crisis has exacerbated the existing social injustices in societies, national unity and global solidarity is essential to winning the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Strengthening the COVID-19 pandemic response, global leadership, and international cooperation through global health diplomacy
(Health Promotion Perspective, 2020) Javed, Sumbal; Chattu, Vijay Kumar
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to claim lives around the world and, to some extent, reflects the failure of international cooperation. Global health diplomacy (GHD) can be a bridge for international cooperation for tackling public health crises, strengthening health systems through emphasizing universal health coverage for sustainable and equitable development, and rebuilding multilateral organizations. It can be a catalyst for future global health initiatives. Health should not be used as a political tool at the cost of people’s lives, nor should it become a proxy for geopolitics but can be used to diffuse tensions and create a positive environment for political dialogue. Health diplomacy’s focus should be to mitigate inequality by making available diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines as a global public good. The implications for the lack of international cooperation will lead to increased global disparities and inequities as the countries that cannot procure vaccines will find their population more vulnerable to the pandemic’s repercussion. Though the international cooperation on trade has suffered the impact of geopolitical shifts and competition, through engaging in GHD, the governments can align the trade and health policies. Amid this global health crisis, the World Health Organization (WHO) has faced an increase in International Health Regulations violations, limiting its influence and response during this COVID-19 pandemic. Nations need to develop a sense of cooperation that serves as the basis for a mutual strategic trust for international development. The priorities of all the countries should be to find the areas of common interest, common operational overlap on development issues, and resource allocation for this global fight against COVID-19

Browse

Browsing Faculty Research by Subject "COVID-19"

Results Per Page

Sort Options