I got pretty emotional reading an article about corona virus today. I just...fucking wish that the people who are sincerely and desperately trying to invent vaccines and treatments for transmissible diseases were given the funding, resources, and public trust to fucking do their work. That people would listen to experts, band together, and make public policy that actually helps.
Like, in the US, we could socialize medicine? give people enough protected sick days and labor laws that encouraged people (especially people in jobs where they come into contact with large numbers of people, and ESPECIALLY people who are vulnerable like children, the elderly, the sick, the immunocompromised) TO STAY THE FUCK HOME AS LONG AS THEY NEED WHEN ILL?
we could rush resources to places where new diseases are outbreaking or hitting hard, and study the response measures to see what is most effective?
we could keep doing research and preparedness and studying things in between novel outbreaks so we have things ready to go, new methods and data and the physical capacity to respond when there IS a new outbreak?
we could make an effort to fix our healthcare system so people trust it, can afford it, and will actually go to the hospital when sick.
saying “wash your hands” is important, but individual prevention is not a solution, we need collective response. And for that we have to give priority and funding and collective effort towards, y’know, science. and especially, science over profit.
it just breaks my heart that we freak out when there’s a new outbreak and as a global society do very little to take actual measures in between.
(and P.S. basically all of these measures would ALSO help us deal with “everyday” diseases that kill more people because they infect more people yearly, like the flu)
