Sudhir Behl
The novel coronavirus pandemic demands a new avatar to be donned by the world leaders not only during, but even after the crisis is over. World leaders are posed with a ‘transformational challenge’ in the form of this contagious infection. It is a clarion call to change their governing style.
From Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin; Angela Merkel to Giuseppe Conte; Xi Jinping to Emmanuel Macron – the global leadership was found abysmally inept to handle the crisis, more so during the pre-pandemic stage. US President Donald Trump dithered when asked for more funds for the healthcare sector by CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) officials – a faux pas which has culminated into perhaps one of the biggest national health disastersthe US has ever faced.
Cutting funds for the WHO, the premier healthcare organisation in the world, on the basis of conspiracy theories seems like a ploy to divert attention from the stark reality that one of the biggest superpowers of the world was, in fact, not prepared to deal with a healthcare crisis of this level. Riddled with ‘money-making’ health insurance companies, the US healthcare system ranks at an appallingly low level 30 in the world healthcare index by WHO. Almost 44 million American citizens have no health insurance and another 38 million are inadequately covered.
Even on the recent issue of demand of hydroxy-chloroquine by the US, Trump’s hawkish posture was too evident to miss. A veil of discernible threat to PM Modi, on a humanitarian issue, did not augur well for the stature of the US President. All this boldly underlines that Trump is more concerned about the US economy, the GDP and the ensuing US Presidential elections to be held in November 2020. His personal wealth too has been eroded by a staggering $1 billion and his net worth has plummeted to $2.1 billion as of April 1, 2020, according to Forbes. But, why should all this be at the cost of precious human lives that are being lost every day in the US? The whole episode seems to be too bitter to swallow for the US President – more than the bitter hydroxy-chloroquine pill itself.
It is not just the US, but most ‘developed’ western nations have had to face the wrath of the virus by keeping their economies open and not putting restrictions on movement at the right time. Italy, although boasting a world-class healthcare system, defaulted when it came to increasing fundings for the system as per the WHO standards. Tourists kept pouring intothe scenic Italian towns throughout January to March, silently wreaking havoc to its population that primarily comprises citizens over the age of 60. Spain, Germany, England, France and other European nations share the same story.
Asian nations, in contrast, especially Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, gave a robust and aggressive pre-emptive response to COVID 19. India, with its mammoth 1.3 billion population and despite inadequate medical infra-structurehas so far done a decent job under the leadership of PM Modi with the world’s biggest lockdown and other strict measures.
China’s strategy, however, is shrouded in thick covers, under the authoritarian and communist leadership of Xi Jinping. Ignoring the findings of Dr Li Wenliang and his medical team who had warned the authorities of an impending viral epidemic in 2019 itself, China not only earned the dubious distinction of being ‘the place of origin of coronavirus pandemic’ but is also became the subject of multiple conspiracy theories, like that of the virus supposedly being manufactured in a laboratory in Wuhan. It’s terrible that Dr Li Wenliang eventually died of coronavirus itself. Perhaps Xi Jinping was too occupied with his dream of becoming the ‘Numero Uno’ superpower of the world by his continuous trade wars with the US. China also earned global wrath for failing to hold its nationals from visiting other countries in January 2020 during Chinese New Lunar Year holidays amidst spread of coronavirus on its soil. It did no good to the world by continuing with its wet markets selling live wild animals, responsible for the origin of present zoonotic.
Did the global leadership really need this ‘viral shock treatment’ to jolt it out of deep slumber? This crisis, now, gives them a unique opportunity to go for a transformation and don a new avatar, wherein the parameters of governance must be realigned.The foremost change, citizens of the world desire in their leadersis ‘a joint effort for a better tomorrow’ – a world sans war, poverty, arms race; a world where the gaze is focused on providing a universal healthcare system to confront any future pandemics.
An exhaustive report titled ‘A World At Risk’ by Global Preparedness Monitoring Board of WHO in September 2019 that ‘the world requires determined political leadership to prepare for health threats at national and global levels. Heads of Government must commit and invest under the International Health Regulations. G7, G20 and G77 Member States must follow through on their political and funding commitments for preparedness.’
A beginning can be made by suo moto providing a quantum leap in budgetary allocations for healthcare sector by all nations of the world. Governments’ disenchantment and laxity towards healthcare spendings can be aptly gauged by hefty curtailments in the budget allocations by many of them to pave way for colossal defence spendings. Based on quantitative data from 197 countries from 2000 to 2013, a report published in the journal of Defence and Peace Economicsfound that higher military spending ‘negatively impacts health expenditures, and therefore becomesan important risk factor for population health and individual well-being.’
The question now is, not who will conquer the global trade, or subjugate small weaker nations by installing puppet governments, but who will strengthen the fledgling world healthcare system, which was found bare to the skeleton in the present corona crisis. ‘Health First’has to be the new mantra of world leaders-a guiding principle when finalising the national budgets. NirmalaSitaraman and her counterparts all over the world in every nation, have a mammoth job at their hands. The world simply cannot afford another disaster of this magnitude. Leaders of the world should depict a new bonhomie, a collective resolve to come together with an open heart sans political diplomacy, to save the human race on this planet.
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel