PARIS, May 26, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Trillions of dollars, euros and yuan pouring
into post-pandemic economies must build a “healthy and green recovery”, 200
medical groups representing 40 million health professionals worldwide told G20
leaders Tuesday in an open letter.
The twenty nations accounting for 90 percent of global GDP should
prioritise investment in public health, clean air, clean water and a stable
climate in order to boost resilience against future health crises, said the
letter.
“We have witnessed first-hand how fragile communities can be when their
health, food security and freedom to work are interrupted by a common threat,”
the letter said, describing the COVID-19 pandemic that has sickened more that
five million and claimed nearly 350,000 lives since the start of the year.
“These effects could have been partially mitigated, or possibly even
prevented, by adequate investments in pandemic preparedness, public health and
environmental stewardship.”
The next G20 summit is scheduled for November.
A June meeting of G7 leaders was scrapped due to the global health crisis,
but US President Donald Trump said last week it could still take place at the
White House and Camp David, a summer retreat outside Washington DC.
Backed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Climate and
Health Alliance, the letter highlighted the health-wrecking impact of air
pollution, which causes some seven million premature deaths each year.
– ‘New health threats’ –
“Before COVID-19, air pollution was already weakening our bodies,” the
World Medical Association, the International Council of Nurses, the World
Organization of Family Doctors and two hundred other groups said.
“A truly healthy economy will not allow pollution to continue to cloud the
air we breathe and the water we drink,” the letter continued. “It will not
allow unabated climate change and deforestation, potentially unleashing new
health threats upon vulnerable populations.”
Promoting the hashtag #HealthyRecovery, the appeal called for removing
hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies for oil, gas and coal, the main
drivers of both global warming and air pollution.
It also underscored the need to boost renewable energy, such as solar and
wind power.
“Healthy lives depend on a healthy planet,” said World Medical Association
President Miguel Jorge. “We need a comprehensive approach, a healthy and green
recovery, and we need it now.”
Health workers — from cleaning crews to doctors, in hospitals and nursing
homes — have been hit especially hard by the pandemic.
While there is no official tally, tens of thousands have been infected with
the virus, and hundreds have died.
At the beginning of May, the International Council of Nurses reported that
at least 90,000 nurses worldwide — possibly twice as many — had caught the
virus.
Hundreds of health professionals have died, including many during the
initial outbreak in Wuhan, China, the pandemic’s epicentre.