Society in Front of a COVID-19 Pandemic: India Versus Ukraine

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of personal reaction to the danger of COVID-19 virus infection and its influence on social processes. Based on the results, the survey proposes the answers to the central questions of public health services development: what is the correlation between the trust of citizens in a national healthcare system, the government's decision, and the effectiveness of lockdown measures taken to stop the coronavirus spreading with reference of Ukraine and India. This research analyses focus on personal and social attitude towards the immediate danger and the ways how different cultural environments react to the new factors of development and risk in general. It proves that personal and social responsibility is directly connected with a level of trust in the national healthcare system and government decisions. Indian and Ukrainian societies before a face of equal danger and experiencing similar personal emotions show the different social behaviour due to the opposite attitude to national healthcare policy and different social and personal evaluations of the government response. The comparison of the answers of Indian and Ukrainian respondents showed a higher level of passive social reaction and obedience in the Indian group and the lower level of obedience and a higher level of active-controlled and uncontrolled reaction in the Ukrainian group. The research paper proposes some conclusions and recommendations about effective social management of personal and public healthcare challenges.