THERE are many lessons to be learnt from the pandemic, but perhaps none more urgent than the importance of investing in public health. While few could have predicted the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, it has, in its wake, exposed the fragility of global healthcare structures and the dominant economic/ideological system. Such issues are rarely about individuals, but one cannot deny that the pandemic has revealed the quality of political leadership around the world: the approach world leaders take to public health and how quickly they communicate, innovate and act in the face of crisis directly impacts the success or failure of the response. For instance, presently, the US and Brazil are both led by strong proponents of the free market, which largely extends to healthcare too. Since the outbreak, both leaders have also repeatedly dismissed the concerns of experts, ignored early warnings, and peddled false information. The inability or refusal to act has resulted in both countries now having the highest virus-related deaths in the world. Remember: just two years ago, President Donald Trump’s administration dissolved the government’s entire pandemic response team, set up by the previous administration in the wake of the Ebola outbreak. On the other hand, places such as New Zealand and Taiwan were able to contain the virus by either already having a strong disaster response system in place, or listening to the advice of experts and innovating new strategies as the threat grew more apparent.

Even before recording its first official case, there had been concerns about how Pakistan’s healthcare system would cope with the virus. Yet the leadership gave unclear or mixed messages, and a lack of unity had been apparent. Doctors’ concerns were ignored — worse, medics were arrested or attacked or harassed in the line of duty. In the midst of the health emergency, the health allocation has more than doubled in the recently announced national budget, yet it remains less than what it should be. It is time to prioritise healthcare.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2020