South Asia's Response to COVID-19: A Harvard Webinar

On Friday, April 17th, I had the oppurtunity to attenda webinar hosted by Dr. Vikram Patel, a professor at Harvard Medical School, and a member of the The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Insitute. The webinar mainly focused on the actions India has been taking to flatten the curve of the pandemic, despite having a population of over a billion, and a significant portion who live on the streets. India has taken it upon themselves to produce their own goods, avoiding exports and foreign interactions to limit coronavirus outbreaks within communities. Additionally, while political parties rarely find a common ground, the political tone within the country is known to be much more accomodative recently, as per Dr. Srinath Reddy, one of the key speakers during the webinar. One point of discussion that caught my attention was Dr. Patel's statement about how the United States is saving livelihoods instead of saving lives. Much of the actions the United States took were delayed in comparison to other countries, and plenty of public areas are still open, leading to the spread of the panemic to only grow within the nation. Over the years, I have come to understand that while Antibiotic Resistance is already a big issue, by 2050 (or perhaps earlier) it can come to a point where people will once again die from common colds, strep throats, and health issues we consider to be minute in today's day and age. A pandemic should never be taken lightly, yet time and time again, we continue to repeat history.