“A LOCKDOWN IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE IN MALAWI. INSTEAD WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IS THAT THE CORONAVIRUS PROBLEM CAN DOUBLE BECAUSE PEOPLE HAVE NO ALTERNATIVES AS THEY WILL PREVENT THE DISEASE BUT DIE OF HUNGER.”
inequalities are not lost on local people and community workers, as the documentary shows. “In Africa, we have a very low life expectancy within the region, with just 3% of sub-Saharan Africa making it past 65 and thus into the age-range where risk of serious, critical and fatal disease appears to rise dramatically in developed countries,” says Prof Broadbent. “By contrast, 20% of Europeans are over 65, and the median age is 42, compared to just 18 in Africa. If age is a good predictor of risk of serious disease in the African context, then susceptibility may be reduced accordingly. “This film encourages a fuller cost-benefit analysis of lockdown. Not only are the costs higher for developing regions, but the benefits may be lower. The benefit of lockdown must be measured as the reduction of the risk the disease poses to population health,” he says. In Africa, where nearly 90% of employment is in the informal sector, people who eke out an
of severe lockdown measures on disadvantaged communities in the developing world. In the film, individuals from poor backgrounds in South Africa, Malawi, Uganda, and Zambia, as well as across the globe in Glasgow and Stockholm talk candidly about their livelihoods under the lockdown, a challenge that is especially acute in developing nations with significant populations living hand-to-mouth. A strong point is that by far the biggest risk factor for serious, critical or fatal COVID-19 is age. Of the more than 126 000 COVID-19 deaths recorded at the time of filming, most were among over- 60s in the developed world. By contrast, 5 million children under five die of preventable causes annually, and 800 000 of pneumonia alone. This means that on average, over 1.5m children die of preventable causes each year, without triggering a global response, raising serious questions about the global community’s attitude to life in developing regions. These
income by hawking roadside goods, shining shoes or braiding tourist hair have little way of surviving if they are forced indoors. The Masi Alli family are entirely dependent on a weekly family income of less than R800 from selling hardware. The Nyaude family survives on a weekly benefit of less than R500 from selling bananas. In the documentary, Alli says, “A lockdown is almost impossible in Malawi. Instead what would happen is that the Coronavirus problem can double because people have no alternatives as they will prevent the disease but die of hunger.” Anne Nyaude says she is one of the people living in a rented slum and it’s going to be challenging for her to pay rent. “What are we going to eat? It’s very difficult. I plead with the government to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus by promoting cleanliness and social distancing, and not by lockdown.”
ALUMNI IMPUMELELO
10
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator