key: cord-0031796-5r0may4i
authors: Thalib, Lukman
title: Re: The brave new world of pandemic resilience
date: 2022-03-08
journal: J Eval Clin Pract
DOI: 10.1111/jep.13671
sha: 50da42acc3da4d53ce89d922cb44285c627085b0
doc_id: 31796
cord_uid: 5r0may4i

nan

were clearly against the best available scientific evidence.

There are many examples from around the world to cite. One clear example would make my point clear. It was the forceful cremation of Muslim bodies that died out of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka. 2 This was against the best available evidence and the WHO directives were clear and provided both options of burial and cremation. It appears that COVID was used as an excuse to further marginalize the minority Muslim community. There were many other ways Muslims in Sri Lanka were marginalized during the COVID pandemic, but cremation being one of the most sensitive issues, this example should be sufficient to highlight the issue. The point I am raising here is not simply the actions of ill-motivated politicians, but rather how the public health experts and senior-most medical associations provided support for these discriminatory practices knowing well the best available evidence. 2 If we were to build a fair, equitable, and healthy society, the well-trained health experts who were elected to lead the clinical community should have based their expert advice on the best available scientific evidence.

There are many other examples from other parts of the world too. Discriminatory policies in vaccinating the refugees or restricting access to marginalized, occupied, or minority communities were noted in other parts of the world. [3] [4] [5] [6] In some cases, outdated vaccines were given to occupied communities. What is critical in all these incidences during the pandemic was the role of public health experts who were able to influence the decision that their countries were making. If we were to create a fair and just society healthcare workers must stand firm against any discriminatory policies in relation to healthcare providence.

Finally, COVID-19 has undoubtedly exposed blatant inequalities and inequities. In light of the long-term impact of COVID, it is vital that healthcare experts around the world should actively promote the building of an inclusive society, protecting the most marginalized. As we all feel burnt out, worldwide movements demanding equality and social justice are hopefully rising from the ashes! I hope healthcare workers become key players in such positive global changes and not collide with the ill-intended elements in the societies.

Thanking you.

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

The brave new world of pandemic resilience

Position Paper on the debate about compulsory cremation of victims of COVID-19, College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka

COVID-19 vaccines: ensuring social justice and health equity among refugees in Africa

Responsibility and vaccine nationalism in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Israel/OPT: UN experts call on Israel to ensure equal access to COVID-19 vaccines for Palestinians

Ensure Palestinians have access to COVID-19 vaccines