<
https://www.croakey.org/how-governments-are-still-failing-the-public-on-covid-control/>
"Health sector leaders are calling for governments to take more action to
reduce the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for people who
are at greater risk of severe outcomes from the virus.
Many people are still dying and being hospitalised from COVID in Australia, and
many more are being impacted by long COVID. Inequities in the burden of COVID
are clearly evident, with some groups disproportionately at risk of dying from
the illness.
Interviews by
Croakey with nine health leaders and organisations identified
these additional key concerns:
* the Federal Government’s ongoing failure to provide public leadership on the
pandemic – despite longstanding calls for them to step up
* a need for comprehensive public health communication and education campaigns
* an imperative to address longer-term systemic issues in the health sector
that are being exacerbated by the pandemic.
Another recurring theme is the disproportionate impact upon at-risk groups,
including the aged, people with disabilities and medical vulnerabilities. This
applies not only to their increased risks from infection but also to the wider
impacts upon their lives.
People with disability or who are immunocompromised “have been left behind and
their needs have been rendered fairly invisible in recent times, including
their right to access safe spaces where they can be part of society”, Professor
Deborah Lupton, from the Centre for Social Research and Health at University of
New South Wales and an OzSage member, told a recent webinar.
Similar concerns were also raised by Dr Rebecca Ryan and Dr Louisa Walsh,
Research Fellows at the Centre for Health Communication and Participation at La
Trobe University, in a recent article in The MJA’s
Insight+ publication.
“…one group that has been particularly affected [by COVID-19] but remains
largely invisible in public health communications are people who are medically
vulnerable (including the chronically ill, immunocompromised and elderly),”
they wrote."
Via Violet Blue’s
Pandemic Roundup: July 20, 2023
https://www.patreon.com/posts/pandemic-roundup-86365778
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
