Medical oxygen scarce in Africa, Latin America amid virus

‘A crisis over the supply of medical oxygen for coronavirus patients has struck nations in Africa and Latin America, where warnings went unheeded at the start of the pandemic and doctors say the shortage has led to unnecessary deaths.

‘It takes about 12 weeks to install a hospital oxygen plant and even less time to convert industrial oxygen manufacturing systems into a medical-grade network. But in Brazil and Nigeria, as well as in less-populous nations, decisions to fully address inadequate supplies only started being made last month, after hospitals were overwhelmed and patients started to die.’

Read here (AP, Feb 23, 2021)

In Latin America, religious misinformation on Covid-19 spreads with the help of the Christian press

‘Latin American Christian communities aren’t the only religious groups to fall victim to misleading claims or outright misinformation about the pandemic. In June, Spanish cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera declared attempts to find a vaccine the “work of the devil” that would involve “aborted fetuses” in a filmed Mass shared around the world. Church leaders in Australia raised similar concerns recently, apparently unaware that the practice of using cell lines grown from a fetus in 1972 has been commonplace in vaccine development for decades.

‘In India, Hindu religious and political leaders have promoted cow urine as a cure for Covid-19, inspired by the sacred status of cows in Hinduism, and declared the coronavirus would leave India once a controversial temple was completed. Claims that a polio vaccine contained pork products or toxic ingredients, often circulated by Muslim clerics, have damaged the fight against the disease in Muslim-majority Pakistan.’

Read here (Nieman Lab, Sept 2, 2020) 

Leaders in Africa, South Asia, and Latin America need to look carefully at alternative policies

‘Some possibilities include:

• A universal mask-wearing requirement when workers leave their homes (as masks and homemade face coverings are comparatively cheap, and such a policy is likely feasible for almost all countries to implement); 
• Targeted social isolation of the elderly and other at-risk groups, while permitting productive individuals with lower-risk profiles to continue working; 
• Improving access to clean water, hand-washing, and sanitation, and other policies to decrease the viral load; and 
• Widespread social influence and information campaigns to encourage behaviours that slow the spread of disease but do not undermine economic livelihoods. This could include restrictions on the size of religious and social gatherings or programs to encourage community and religious leaders to endorse safer behaviours and communicate them clearly.’

Read here (Foreign Policy, April 10, 2020)