The Conversation

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The success or failure of coronavirus regulations is often assessed on whether they affect the rate of transmission in the community, and whether or not people comply with them. But what about the ethics behind the measures? With inevitable and complex value judgments at play, responses to COVID-19 have shown how the regulations’ success also requires us to pay attention to their moral authority. Links between public health policy, social ethics, and political philosophy have long been recognised; on more and less favourable terms. One of the most prominent voices in favour of strong public health leadership, the editor of the medical journal The Lancet, Richard Horton, has described public health as “the science of social justice”. By contrast, oneContinue Reading

A close-up of a pregnant belly.

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We were told at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic that the virus did not discriminate. But the truth is that COVID-19 has brought to light the structural inequalities in healthcare that have existed for decades. In the UK, people from an ethnic minority background are more likely to die from COVID-19 than white people. And during the first wave of the pandemic, the increased in overall deaths rates from all causes was higher among migrants than among people born in the UK. The pandemic has also affected men and women differently – men are 40% more likely to die from COVID-19 than women, for reasons that are still unclear. Women, meanwhile, bear more of the brunt of the pandemicContinue Reading

Should COVID-19 vaccines be mandatory? Two experts discuss

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hedgehog94/Shutterstock To be properly protective, COVID-19 vaccines need to be given to most people worldwide. Only through widespread vaccination will we reach herd immunity – where enough people are immune to stop the disease from spreading freely. To achieve this, some have suggested vaccines should be made compulsory, though the UK government has ruled this out. But with high rates of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the UK and elsewhere, is this the right call? Here, two experts to make the case for and against mandatory COVID-19 vaccines. Alberto Giubilini, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, University of Oxford COVID-19 vaccination should be mandatory – at least for certain groups. This means there would be penalties for failureContinue Reading

With all the focus on coronavirus, let's not forget the other respiratory viruses

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In: COVID-19

Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock With coronaviruses taking over our news feeds – and lives – you may be fooled into thinking it’s the only virus affecting humans at the moment. But it’s important to remember that there are many viruses, especially respiratory viruses, that regularly infect us. These viruses range from the mildly annoying, such as those that cause the common cold, to the potentially deadly, such as influenza. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, scientists around the world are still working hard on these viruses, to find treatments and vaccines to improve our quality of life. 1. Rhinoviruses Rhinoviruses (from the Greek “rhinos” for “of the nose”) are usually associated with the common cold. They cause a nasal infection, resultingContinue Reading

Chang'e 5: China launches sample return mission to the Moon – is it winning the new space race?

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Assembly of the Chang’e 5 orbiter-return capsule. SHI Xiaodan/wikipedia China has been the only country to land on the Moon for over 40 years – since the Soviet Luna programme. Its recent Chang’e missions (1-4) demonstrated that China could not only orbit and land on the Moon, but also successfully operate a rover. On November 24, the Chinese National Space Administration launched Chang’e 5 – the latest in the series. This mission to collect and return samples is impressive. Recent failed landings on the Moon by an Israeli privately funded mission and the Indian Vikram lander show just how challenging such missions still are. Read more: To the moon and beyond 3: The new space race and what winning itContinue Reading

Hungry and out of work: what life is like for young British people under COVID-19

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PERO studio/Shutterstock.com Leo* is a 22-year-old living in Edinburgh. He was working part-time in hospitality and waiting to begin university when we spoke during the UK’s nationwide lockdown earlier this year. Like many young people, the pandemic had significantly affected Leo financially. Furloughed and unable to access overtime as he normally would, several months off from his first student loan payment, he was anxiously awaiting a decision on his application for universal credit – without which he would literally have no money for food. He told me: My income has dropped by at least about half […] Hopefully universal credit will kick in […] After this Friday, I’ll be only earning about £40 less than [the cost of] my rentContinue Reading

COVID-19: four ways to respond to vaccine sceptics – and maybe even convince them

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There are productive ways to talk to people you disagree with. CREATISTA For most of the 20th century, more than 60,000 people died in the US from polio, diphtheria and small pox each year. In 2016, the American death toll from these diseases was zero. Around the globe, two to three million deaths from these diseases and others, including measles, rubella and tetanus, are prevented each year. These remarkable statistics are a triumph of medicine and the single most effective public health measure in history: global vaccination programmes. COVID-19, after the most rapid and sustained vaccine development programme in history, now looks set to be joining this list of fatal diseases that can be easily prevented with a jab orContinue Reading

The Conversation

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More than a quarter of Muslim members and supporters of the Labour Party have experienced Islamophobia within the ranks of the party, a report from the Labour Muslim Network (LMN) claims. With some members or supporters being referred to as “terrorists” or “foreigners”, others have been accused of plotting to “takeover” the party. Some have even been subjected to stereotypes about “grooming gangs”. Coming so soon after the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) damning investigation into Antisemitism, these findings not only raise further questions about the Labour party’s rank and file but also the extent to which Islamophobia is being taken seriously. Given the dossier of allegations of Islamophobia that the Conservative Party is yet to respond to, theContinue Reading

The Conversation

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I’m a clinical trials geek. I keep hearing people talk about the seven to ten years it takes to make a vaccine and how dangerous speeding this up might be. The word that keeps popping up is “rushed”, and it is making the average person nervous about vaccine safety. So, as a clinical trials doctor, I am going to tell you what I do for most of those ten years – and it is not very much. I’m not lazy. I submit grants, have them rejected, resubmit them, wait for review, resubmit them somewhere else, sometimes in a loop of doom. When I am lucky enough to get trials funded, I then spend months on submitting to ethics boards. IContinue Reading

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Jhulan Goswami turned 38 on Wednesday, with Yuvraj Singh taking to Twitter to express his wishes on the occasion. “Happy Birthday to the talented @JhulanG10 who has redefined Indian Women’s cricket with her pace, consistency and tenacity. Your journey has been instrumental in creating a solid foundation for the younger generations. My best wishes always,” read the message from Yuvraj. Jhulan is the leading wicket-taker in Women’s One-day Internationals. She is further the first bowler to take 300 wickets in women’s international cricket. Happy Birthday to the talented @JhulanG10 who has redefined Indian Women’s cricket with her pace, consistency and tenacity. Your journey has been instrumental in creating a solid foundation for the younger generations. My best wishes always —Continue Reading