Curated public health stories for this week from my reading shelf for Week 12 of 2022.
I.
Why can’t some scientists just admit they were wrong about Covid? by Dr Devi Sridhar
“Experts” and influential people stuck in these Covid camps continue to influence the narrative. In some ways, this keeps us stuck reliving and relitigating arguments from early in the pandemic at the very moment we should be focused on the best evidence and policies to help us “exit” the pandemic safely. This should involve the equitable distribution of vaccines and therapeutics around the globe, protecting those vulnerable to severe disease and rapid-response public health plans based around surveillance. In these moments it’s important to remember the two principles of humility and flexibility in response – and how these don’t fit easily with the new world of media.”
II.
“Although Covid is the most visible pandemic of our lifetime, it is neither the deadliest nor the most preventable. That distinction goes to cardiovascular disease, a pandemic so common it is invisible, so routinely lethal it seems normal, and so ingrained in the fabric of modern society it seems natural. Every year, cardiovascular disease kills twice as many people, at a younger average age, as Covid has at its worst, and since 2020, there’s been a surge in fatalities from heart disease and stroke in the U.S.”
Stopping a Pandemic Deadlier Than Covid by Dr Tom Frieden
III.
“The same: The brutal math of exponential growth. Different: Our pandemic fatigue is worse than ever.”
How the next pandemic surge will be different
Disclaimer: Posts and opinions are my own and do not reflect the views of my employer.
Jina Dcruz 