Medical experts caution against staging Games
JAPANESE TEAM WARN ORGANISERS
HOLDING the Tokyo Olympics this summer will contradict Japan’s commitment to global health and human security, according to medical experts, reports the PA news agency.
An editorial in the British Medical Association’s BMJ journal by a team of Japanese experts questions the decision to press ahead with plans to host the 2020 Games later this year.
Originally scheduled for July last year, the coronavirus pandemic forced the Tokyo Olympics to be put back 12 months.
“The whole global community recognises the need to contain the pandemic and save lives,” the BMJ writes. “Holding Tokyo 2020 for domestic, political and economic purposes – ignoring scientific and moral imperatives – is contradictory to Japan’s commitment to global health and human security.
“We must reconsider this summer’s games and instead collaborate internationally to agree a set of global and domestic conditions under which international multisport events can be held in the years ahead.
“These conditions must embody both Olympic and Paralympic values and adhere to international principles of public health.”
The Games are due to get under way in less than 100 days’ time, but only last week Japan announced it would raise the coronavirus alert level in Tokyo to curb the rapid spread of a more contagious variant.
Just over one million people in Japan, or less than 1 per cent of the population, have received the first of two vaccine doses, and the surge in cases may cause further cancellations of Olympic-related events.
Australia was highlighted as a model to follow after successfully hosting the Australian Open at the start of the year.
The tennis tournament was pushed back three weeks from its original date, with players forced to quarantine for 14 days on arrival by the Victoria State government while qualifying for the grand slam took place in Doha, Qatar, Dubai and the United Arab Emirates.
“Even healthcare workers and other high risk populations will not have access to vaccines before Tokyo 2020, to say nothing of the general population,” the BMJ points out.
“To properly protect athletes from Covid-19, Japan must develop and implement a clear strategy to eliminate community transmission within its borders, as Australia did before the Australian Open.”
Questions were raised over the prospect of international officials, broadcasters, press and marketing partners coming to Tokyo which “risks importing and spreading Covid-19 variants of concern” on top of athletes from across the globe visiting Japan.
Talk of Olympians and Paralympians being given the vaccine has been mooted but it is not seen as an adequate solution according to the BMJ, which has asked the International Olympic Committee for full transparency.