The potentially deadly globalization of public health

The coronavirus has given Canadians a crash course on the globalization of public health. We’ve learned social-distancing rules and how to plan around lines at the grocery store.

We’ve also begun to comprehend a particularly sinister side of COVID-19: The virus exploits inequality and preys on vulnerabilities. It’s the challenging truth here in Canada, what we’re witnessing in the United States, and now seeing unfold in the world’s toughest places.

A new Abacus Data poll reveals that Canadians have gained an incredible depth of understanding and perspective on this issue through our lived experience. Most Canadians now view the spread of infectious diseases as the top global threat. Canadians also expressed a clear understanding that over 70 million refugees and migrants around the world will suffer the harmful impacts of this virus even more than us. Almost all Canadians surveyed (90 per cent) know that density in the overcrowded, unhygienic refugee camps makes the risk higher.

Even as the curve flattens and the lockdown begins to ease here at home, the pandemic threat persists, proving how interconnected our world really is. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres summarized this perfectly: “We’re only as strong as our weakest health system.”

Sadly, when considering inequality and poverty on a global scale, we’re still at the precipice of the devastation that could be unleashed. We’re seeing the virus accelerate with more than a million cases in just the past week, largely fuelled by the fragility of those living on the edge of survival in the global south.

Those already susceptible to other diseases and hunger, particularly children, face a chilling reality — COVID-19 will trigger aftershocks. Millions of additional lives are at risk from hunger and weakened health systems unable to provide immunizations for diseases like measles and polio. This is why World Vision has launched its largest crisis response in its 70-year history.

Still, it can be hard to look past the immediate impact of COVID-19 on our own lives. The data shows that many maintain a “Canada first” view on the pandemic response. But most understand that if the virus isn’t defeated everywhere, we’ll all continue to be at risk, and the majority (90 per cent) are concerned about another pandemic wave coming back to Canada. That’s why most Canadians would support our government doing more globally. Canadians understand that in order to have a healthy Canada, we need to have a healthy world, or all our efforts during the lockdown could be for naught.

Canada should answer the call as we have done so many times in our history. As a country, our principles and commitments to human rights and international co-operation should spur us to act. If we don’t do more in refugee camps and other places that aren’t equipped to handle the crisis, the consequences will be deadly — for children in fragile places, and for families and communities here at home.