- On the 1st anniversary of the WHO evaluation of COVID-19 as a pandemic, this climate innovation company sees two opportunities to address inequalities exacerbated by the global health crisis.
- Achieving balanced vaccination and ensuring healthy environments – especially in schools – are at the heart of global recovery.
A year ago, our lives changed fundamentally when the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Since then, we have lost 2.6 million lives. We have also seen the pandemic plague women, blacks, Latinx, and indigenous communities around the world.
Vaccines have shown us light at the end of the tunnel. However, the pace of implementation, accessibility and understanding varies in communities around the world, but equality gaps have widened and environments for many communities are challenging their prospects for recovery.
We need to work now to tackle inequalities and regain access – and by doing this, create a new and better way.
Virus with unequal effect
People who have historically addressed systemic inequality are the only organizations dealing with the inequitable effects on the health and economy of the global pandemic.
Research from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that Black, Latinx, and Native Americans have significantly higher mortality rates due to COVID-19 than other ethnic groups. In the state of São Paulo in Brazil, studies show that non-whites are 62% more likely to lose their lives to COVID-19 than their white peers. This trend has been playing out in countries around the world, according to the United Nations, which cites higher-risk jobs, overcrowding, environmental risks, limited access to health care , and economic inequality as factors.
The pandemic has also pushed many low-income people into poverty, with women suffering disproportionately. In the U.S., women’s participation in the workplace has declined at a 33-year rate. According to a United Nations report, projections indicate a 9.1% increase in global poverty rates among women, far higher than previous projections due to the pandemic and its fall.
Unbalanced global distribution of vaccines exacerbates inequality
Sadly, these are the only communities that now face the biggest barriers to accessing vaccines.
WHO reports that even in most vaccination programs low- and middle-income countries have not started vaccination. In the USA, as speed inoculations, Latinx and Black Americans continue to receive the vaccine at significantly lower rates than other populations. In low-income and rural communities, the biggest barriers are, including lack of access to information, technology, healthcare and transport.
Allowing people to fall behind in vaccine distribution because of their race, gender or economic situation is only doing social and economic inequality. It can also delay the spread of the disease.
Most vaccination programs of low- and middle-income countries have not even started
Image: Our World in Data
WHO vaccine fairness test
To support a more equitable approach, the WHO Vaccine Declaration of Vaccine, signed by Trane Technologies among several organizations and individuals, promises to ensure within the first 100 days of the this year, vaccination of health workers and the elderly can begin. in every country. Trane is also partnering with governments, community leaders, pharmaceutical companies, NGOs and health care providers to help with vaccine distribution.
These partnerships enable major vaccine sites and last-mile vaccine delivery in urban and rural communities across the U.S., Europe and Asia. For example, we are working with an international public health body to provide essential cold chain solutions for vaccine circulation in developing and developed countries. And we’re collaborating with Novant Health in North Carolina on cold storage and efficient logistics for many large vaccine sites, with a focus on reaching underserved communities.
Beyond vaccines to the air we breathe
Reaching all communities with the vaccine is a vital step in overcoming a pandemic. But billions of people around the world do not have access to healthy environments. The United Nations reports that “more than 80 percent of people living in urban areas are exposed to air quality standards that exceed WHO guidelines, with low- and middle-income communities level suffers from the highest exposures, both inside and out. ” This can increase contaminants and pathogens such as COVID-19 as well as other health risks.
Children and students fall through the cracks
There is no worse place for this problem than in schools. Aging school buildings with sub-par environments have long been a problem for low-income neighborhoods. Students of all races and ethnicities are affected, but a study from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that more than a quarter of Black students in the country attend public schools most affected by air pollution.
Beyond the risk of viruses and other contaminant spreads, studies show that poor indoor environments can adversely affect student achievement. And when schools close or become obsolete, children with limited access to technology, the internet, or even nutritious food at home, fall through the cracks.
The first global pandemic in more than 100 years, COVID-19 has spread worldwide at an unprecedented pace. At the time of writing, 4.5 million cases have been diagnosed and more than 300,000 people have died from the virus.
As countries try to overcome it, some of the longer-term economic, business, environmental, social and social challenges and opportunities are just beginning to be seen.
To help all stakeholders – communities, governments, businesses and individuals to address the emerging and ongoing impacts of the effects of coronavirus pandemic, the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Marsh and McLennan and Zurich Insurance Group, has launched its COVID. -19 Risk forecasting: Initial mapping and its implications – a companion for decision makers, building on the Forum’s annual Global Risk Report.
The report reveals that the economic impact of COVID-19 is gaining the upper hand over companies ’risk perceptions.
Companies are invited to join the Forum’s work to help manage the identified risks emerging at COVID-19 across industries to better shape the future. Read the full COVID-19 threat preview: Mapping Preview and its Impact here, and our impact story with more details.
Healthy environments for learning
All children should have equal access to healthy, safe classrooms. But many schools do not have the funding and experience to create them. Trane is working with many schools and districts to help assess their indoor environments to create healthier and safer learning environments. We are also continuing to collaborate with external experts, the WELL International Building Institute, and technology providers to help develop interior spaces for homes, schools and public and commercial buildings. other.
Social and economic inequality has long been one of the biggest, most pressing issues facing humanity. The global pandemic has drawn attention to this inadequate status quo. Now is the time to collaborate, innovate and take action to challenge what is possible, and to ensure a proper recovery and something new. best of all.