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International Journal for Equity in Health
Published in: International Journal for Equity in Health 1/2020

Open Access 01-12-2020 | Coronavirus | Review

Ethics, pandemic and environment; looking at the future of low middle income countries

Authors: Faouzia Tanveer, Ali Talha Khalil, Muhammad Ali, Zabta Khan Shinwari

Published in: International Journal for Equity in Health | Issue 1/2020

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Abstract

COVID-19 which started in Wuhan, China and swiftly expanded geographically worldwide, including to Low to Middle Income Countries (LMICs). This in turn raised numerous ethical concerns in preparedness, knowledge sharing, intellectual property rights, environmental health together with the serious constraints regarding readiness of health care systems in LMICs to respond to this enormous public health crisis. From the restrictions on public freedom and burgeoning socio-economic impacts to the rationing of scarce medical resources, the spread of COVID-19 is an extraordinary ethical dilemma for resource constrained nations with less developed health and research systems. In the current crisis, scientific knowledge and technology has an important role to play in effective response. Emergency preparedness is a shared responsibility of all countries with a moral obligation to support each other. This review discusses the ethical concerns regarding the national capacities and response strategies in LMICs to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the deep link between the environment and the increasing risk of pandemics.
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Metadata
Title
Ethics, pandemic and environment; looking at the future of low middle income countries
Authors
Faouzia Tanveer
Ali Talha Khalil
Muhammad Ali
Zabta Khan Shinwari
Publication date
01-12-2020
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
International Journal for Equity in Health / Issue 1/2020
Electronic ISSN: 1475-9276
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-020-01296-z

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