Epidemics

Successful Measures to Contain Coronavirus Require Public Trust

Will DC’s Neoliberal Model of Drug Costing Finally Kill Us All? Why is there even a debate on whether any Coronavirus Vaccine Should be Free?

Southwest Harbor, Maine (Special to Informed Comment) – Why is there even a question as to whether any Cov19 vaccine or diagnostic test kit should be free? Vaccines and diagnostic tests are essential components of any public health program, not merely conveniences to an isolated individual. When symptomatic patients are tested for a disease, indispensable […]

Donald Trump

Why Mike Pence is the Worst Choice to Lead a Coronavirus Response

Jill Richardson

( Otherwords.org ) -The former Indiana governor presided over the state’s worst ever HIV outbreak. His ignorance made it worse. A year after Trump took office, Saturday Night Live did a sketch called “What Even Matters Anymore?” Game show host Jessica Chastain read a list of outrageous things Trump has done and asked, “Does it […]

Epidemics

How many Iranians will die of Coronavirus because of Trump’s Economic Blockade on that Country?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Babak Dehghanpisheh at Reuters reports that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced on Thursday that the coronavirus Covid-19 has spread to nearly all of the 31 provinces of the huge country (Iran is as big geographically as Spain, France and Germany combined, and its population rivals that of Germany at 81 […]

Epidemics

Heckuva Job, Pencie! A US ruled for and by the Rich leaves Workers at Risk for Coronavirus

John Buell

Southwest Harbor, Maine (Special to Informed Comment) – Is the United States prepared to deal with a public health emergency? At this point such an emergency seems likely, but, even if it were not, the consequence of inaction are catastrophic and must be planned for. Preparation for a national health emergency depends on two variables, […]

Epidemics

On Top of Everything Else, Coronavirus hits the Middle East

Brian Whitaker

(Al-Bab.com) – Iran announced on Friday that the number of coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 388, with 34 deaths so far (among a population of more than 80 million). These official figures are widely disbelieved and it’s likely the actual totals are much higher. One problem is that the number of infections […]

Donald Trump

Anti-Science and Opportunistic: Trump and Iran’s Ayatollahs both Play down Coronavirus

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Christine Romans at CNN wonders if Trump’s news conference on Wednesday evening on the Covid-19 coronavirus was his “Mission Accomplished” moment. After he invaded Iraq in the spring of 2003, George W. Bush gave a triumphant speech that May about how war was now good for humankind beneath a banner […]

Epidemics

Can Iran Afford its Syrian Intervention in face of Failing Economy, Coronavirus?

The Conversation

By Tony Walker | – Iran’s emergence as a hot zone for the coronavirus further complicates that country’s relationships with its neighbours at a time when its economy is sliding deeper into recession. US President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran by tightening economic sanctions coincides with a spreading health crisis that will test […]

Epidemics

America’s Suicide Epidemic is Hitting Trump’s Base Hard

Rajan Menon

(Tomdispatch.com) – We hear a lot about suicide when celebrities like Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade die by their own hand. Otherwise, it seldom makes the headlines. That’s odd given the magnitude of the problem. In 2017, 47,173 Americans killed themselves. In that single year, in other words, the suicide count was nearly seven times […]