Lifting sanctions on Gaza and Iran would be a step towards global public health efforts.
By Dr. Alice Rothchild | Mondoweiss | Mar 26, 2020
Clearly, this is a time of grave urgency and the need for forward, global thinking. To survive as a planet, we need to take care of each other, it’s as basic as that.
The announcement that nine cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Gaza filled me with a new level of anxiety and despair. Gaza is at the beginning of the pandemic curve. With two million people crowded together in area six by twenty-five miles, 70 percent are refugees, 97 percent of the water contaminated and unfit for consumption, basic measures to prevent the spread of the virus will prove challenging. With above a 50 percent unemployment rate and a lack of supplies due to restrictions on the import of goods, it is impossible for families to stock up on essential items and shelter in place, let alone practice social distancing.
While I hunker down in my first world quarantine (with adequate food, electricity, clean water, a home, and phone calls from anxious friends), more vulnerable populations have a much more dangerous prognosis. Groups without clean water and hygiene products, the ability to socially distance from other contacts, and a functional first-world health care system, are facing much higher rates of disease and death. With competent, honest public health assessments, widespread testing and education, and strategic financial support, these outcomes can be mitigated and possibly improved.
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