We Must Take Advantage of This Pandemic to Make a Radical Social Change: The Coronavirus as a Global Health, Inequality, and Eco-Social Problem

Joan Benach

doi:10.1177/0020731420946594

Abstract

COVID-19 not only constitutes a serious public health problem and a global major threat to the poorest and most vulnerable social groups and neighborhoods of the world, creating a potential pandemic of inequality, but also poses an enormous challenge from the perspective of public health, ethics, economy, environment, and politics. However, many of the deep and complex systemic interrelationships created and developed by this pandemic are largely hidden, unknown, or neglected, both by the hegemonic media and by a highly specialized and fragmented academic world. However, when all the available knowledge is critically integrated, the origins and effects underlying this pandemic are likely to be found in the development of neoliberal capitalism and its inherent logic of ceaseless accumulation, economic growth, large inequalities, and ecological devastation. This commentary reflects on these issues, drawing out some of the most important lessons to be learned and challenges to be faced in the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, advocating for a radical social change to deal with these challenges.

Highlights

COVID-19 constitutes a serious public health problem and a global major threat to the poorest and most vulnerable social groups and neighborhoods of the world, creating a potential pandemic of inequality, and poses an enormous challenge from the perspective of public health, ethics, economy, environment, and politics
In high-income countries, we are in a temporary situation of “low-income-worldization” of public health care
Many countries do not have appropriate public health and health care systems for dealing with this coronavirus or, many day-to-day illnesses, nor is there an adequate global public health system that can deal with global systemic threats similar to that of the coronavirus

Summary

Introduction

COVID-19 constitutes a serious public health problem and a global major threat to the poorest and most vulnerable social groups and neighborhoods of the world, creating a potential pandemic of inequality, and poses an enormous challenge from the perspective of public health, ethics, economy, environment, and politics. COVID-19, eco-social crisis, health inequalities, policy change, public health

Results

Conclusion