Healthcare
Members of a whole
The immediate effects of the Covid-19 pandemic are severe enough and sometimes unexpected. The higher Covid-19 mortality amongst healthcare workers and others from black and minority ethnic backgrounds in the UK have not been observed in Africa and South Asia. This has obliged those of us who work in the National Health Service to ask ourselves difficult…
Read MoreCoronavirus vaccines and Christian ethics
En français In September 2020 it was estimated that researchers were testing 40 different coronavirus vaccines in clinical trials on humans, and at least 92 preclinical vaccines were under active investigation in laboratory experiments. From a Christian perspective, perhaps we should first pause here and give thanks that God has given us, here and now…
Read MoreCOVID-19: longer term impacts on global health
En français Most of us are increasingly aware of the direct and immediate impact of COVID-19, even though it seems to behave differently from place to place and is dependent on so many factors. But we may be less aware of the longer-term implications of COVID, and how it is affecting global health. One reason…
Read MoreFacing COVID in a remote and resource-poor location
Em português, français When I got the government order towards the end of March telling us we were to be the sole designated COVID hospital for the whole district of Simdega, I felt my heart sink. I am the senior among three doctors in a small hospital called Shanti Bhavan Medical Centre in a village…
Read MoreOur calling in the coronavirus pandemic
En français Few of us are trained to treat sick communities and continents. Unfortunately, that is our task during a pandemic. The origin of the word comes from the Greek pandemos, where pan means everyone, and demos means population. Pandemics confront us with not just one sick individual but with hundreds of thousands of ill patients. The responsible pathogen overwhelms…
Read MorePutting ‘care’ back into ‘healthcare’ after COVID-19 – a reflection
En français September has begun and, with it, the fall. Sitting here in Staten Island, I am thinking of the seasons that have ended. I am able to ‘see’ the spring and summer seasons better than I could in the chaos of the recent past. The reason is a long-needed week away at a Christian…
Read MoreThe ‘other’ suffering caused by the coronavirus
Em português, français The COVID-19 pandemic has been raging for over seven months now. It has directly killed over 800,000 people and, indirectly, caused massive losses to people who are mostly unseen. While I do not have the figures for this ‘collateral damage’, I have no doubt that it is many times more than the…
Read MoreBeing compassionate without burning out
True Christian healthcare is compassionate and comprehensive. It is centred on Jesus and his heart to heal the whole person – body, mind and spirit. As Christian doctors we try to keep this at the centre of our medical practice. But often we do not know how to take care of ourselves with the result…
Read MoreCreative and practical ways to help people in poor communities respond to COVID-19
En Français, Pусский, Español, Português As I write, we will be living in a wide variety of situations. We may be at the front line, exhausted and overworked. Or, at the other end of the spectrum, being in lockdown and enjoying more time with our families. And of course, many situations in between. But perhaps…
Read MoreSexuality in COVID-19 times
En Español, Pусский, Français, Português I was compelled to write this article, after reading a document issued by New York Community Health entitled Sex and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID -19). Upon reading the publication, I was struck by various ideas concerning sexuality, which the New York scientific group was suggesting for its readers, faced with…
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