Vol V, Issue 2 Date of Publication: April 25, 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.20529/IJME.2020.036

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Death in the time of coronavirus

George Thomas
Abstract:
The lockdown of the country, imposed by the government of India, has resulted in additional suffering for the poor without any tangible benefit. The germ theory of disease is an important contribution to human welfare. However, disease has social determinants. Responses to infectious epidemics should be based on social conditions, not only from considerations of equity, but also because they are important for success. Advice from the World Health Organisation has to be tailored to the social realities in India. Current response by the government of India has confined the poor to ghettos. They have lost the means of livelihood without a proper social security net. It is not possible for them to practise social distancing or proper hygiene. The lockdown has the effect of making conditions worse for the poor. Keywords: Covid-19 pandemic, resource allocation, social origins of disease, unplanned lockdown, diversion of resources, lack of social security


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©Indian Journal of Medical Ethics 2020: Open Access and Distributed under the Creative Commons license ( CC BY-NC-ND 4.0),
which permits only non-commercial and non-modified sharing in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.

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