Asia Struggles with Coronavirus

By N. GUNASEKARAN

On March 1, the World Health Organization (WHO), in its daily Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report, stated that 87,137 cases were confirmed globally and 58 countries were affected. Its Risk Assessment categorized China, at the regional level and global level, as very high.

From Indonesia, where its first two coronavirus cases were identified, and Iran, where the death toll was 66 out of 1,501 cases — the highest outside China — to Italy, which was the center of the outbreak in Europe, and France, the global spread of the deadly virus was frightening the human beings. South Korea identified more than 4,200 Covid-19 cases and 22 deaths.

The countries in South and Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore, have been reporting the numbers of identified cases. If the numbers of patients were increased, the existing inadequacies, such as protective equipment for health workers and facilities to provide intensive care, would make the situation more worse.

In many low-income economies in the region, where the simple disease control mechanisms were lacking, the preparedness with proper health care facilities to arrest the spread of the virus was minimal.

The sick who live on daily wages could not take care and provide protection for their families. In such a scenario, the state is the main agency to provide heath care to the victims and their families. In the same vein, the migrant populations and the refugee camps in Asian regions, like the ones in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, were also very vulnerable sections.

Many of the underdeveloped countries in Asia lack the ability to take care of patients in emergency situations. Many low-income-economic countries in the region were not comparable to China, where two hospitals were built in two weeks to treat COVID-19 patients.

A report released on Feb. 28 from the WHO mission that visited five cities in China to study the state of the COVID-19 epidemic and the effectiveness of the country’s response said unequivocally: “China’s bold approach to contain the rapid spread of this new respiratory pathogen has changed the course of a rapidly escalating and deadly epidemic,”and said. “This decline in COVID-19 cases across China is real.”

Although it was a positive note, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, the Director General of WHO, alerted the world, saying, “We are actually in a very delicate situation in which the outbreak can go in any direction based on how we handle it … This is not a time for fear. This is a time for taking action to prevent infection and save lives now.”

The crucial question before the governments across the world was how to handle the situation and take effective action.To put it specifically, how can the developing countries, with their weak heath care systems, could effectively handle the emergency situation? Dr. Ghebreyesus himself noted it: “Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems”.

Now the countries are struggling to control the situation. However, the problem of the possibility of undetected cases spreading throughout the region and the lack of efficient monitoring is a challenging task. COVID-19 has now spread to every inhabitable continent since last December 2019.

In his “Gatesnotes,” Bill Gates said “By helping countries in Africa and South Asia get ready now, we can save lives and also slow the global circulation of the virus.” (https://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/How-to-respond-to-COVID-19). Though it seemed to be a well-intentioned expression at the time of health emergency,the fact that the pathetic condition of the health care system in third world countries which could not raise to the occasion during crisis-situation was due to the economic oppressive policies of rich countries imposed on the poor countries was undeniable.

In today’s world, about 400 million people, with extreme poverty have been deprived of access to basic health services and they were unable to meet the healthcare costs.The poor have to spend 30% or more on medicines, health products and services.

WHO committed to the goal of providing a billion more people with Universal Health Care (UHC) by 2023. UHC for the people in Africa and Asia must be the priority agenda for the global community since those regions have 97% impoverished population.

In China, health expenditure was increased steadily from 2012. In 2018, health expenditure in China was about 6.57% of the GDP, and it was 6.36% in 2017. In many Asian countries, it was less than 6%. [In the US, health spending in 2017 was 17% of GDP, compared with an average of 11% in industrialized nations (Kaiser Family Foundation).]

However, over the years, the governments have increased defense budgets manifold. Military spending in Asia and Oceania rose every year. In 1988, it was with just 9% of the global military spending and now the region has been spending about 28% of the global spending.

The conflicts and tensions, escalated by the ruling elites of the concerned countries, and the US strategic policies in Asia were the real causes for the continuing growth of military spending.The real beneficiaries were the Big corporates involved in the defense production and arms deals.

Neoliberal prescriptions like allowance for private sector and Big Business were being advocated by international agencies like World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). These policies would never help to advance the goal of UHC, but further the interests of corporate capital. The basic reorientation of the health sector with the people-oriented health policies is urgently required to meet the health emergencies like the outbreak of Coronavirus.

N. Gunasekaran is a political activist and writer based in Chennai, India.

From The Progressive Populist, April 1, 2020

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