No discrimination is a basic human right. Freedom of movement is a human right.
In the HIV story, compassion, sympathy, no discrimination and equality before the law were rare at the beginning of the epidemic, said David Serwadda a Professor of Public Health at Makerere University who was one of the scientists at the forefront of the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Unfortunately, in an epidemic, some people think they can control the pandemic by law, creating new laws, said Serwadda at the launch of a report, “Finding Humanity in uncertainty: Pandemic Preparedness and Response in Uganda released by the Uganda National Academy of Sciences (UNAS).
Serwadda recounted the HIV story and how countries set up laws that were discriminative and abused human rights of people with HIV. These fuelled stigma right from the household and drove the pandemic to new heights.
He emphasised why human rights enforcement is very important to the control of pandemics. “Being compassionate, respectful to people who are affected, infected is so important. If you’re not compassionate, or do not all discriminate this group of people will not come forward. They will actually go underground.”
Citing the Ebola, HIV epidemics and now the COVID-19 pandemic the scientist discussed human rights and how these play out during pandemics. He recommended a need for more preventive strategies as well as epidemic preparedness and response.
The UNAS study was a consensus study that underwent rigorous external and independent peer review of five distinguished academics and practitioners, and through a review panel, who have guided the UNAS Secretariat.
Prof. Seggane Musisi a Professor of Psychiatry who talked about mental health said during epidemics people face stigma, big health care costs at individual level and also the community. People who lose loved ones, they’re grieved. They’re angry. He advised that mental health should be a priority to be addressed during epidemics.
The ministry of Health acknowledged that in terms of preparedness in terms of preparedness, many times after one pandemic, we tend to relax too much.
This study provides an analysis of Ugandan society as a case study for comparison and reflection on how human beings respond and adapt to the challenges that infectious diseases present.
At the same time, it shows the strengths and weaknesses of existing systems of health provision, including its linkages to economic, political, and legal aspects of human life.
By reconsidering these linkages and the ways in which they both respond and ignore parts of human life in moments of emergency, the readers of this study, in their various capacities, are invited to imagine new ways of conducting pandemic preparedness and responses nationally, continentally, and globally.
Throughout this study, preparedness was presented as an opportunity to reduce the future costs and anxieties that give epidemics the power to destabilize societies, says the report.
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