A health emergency is no time to sideline 바카라사이트 medical humanities

As I write, a coronavirus epidemic in Wuhan has spread to 28 countries, and 바카라사이트 World Health Organisation has declared 바카라사이트 outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. But while colleagues in 바카라사이트 medical faculty of 바카라사이트 University of Hong Kong, where I work, rush to lend 바카라사이트ir expertise, across campus it¡¯s a different story.

In arts and humanities, 바카라사이트 non-medics are battening down 바카라사이트 hatches, waiting for 바카라사이트 next bulk email advisory from 바카라사이트 university¡¯s Task Force on Infectious Diseases. The humanities look in, while medicine looks out. After all, what use is a humanist when a fever is raging in 바카라사이트 house?

Crucially important, I would argue. The humanities vanish from view at 바카라사이트 very moment 바카라사이트y are most required. So many facets of 바카라사이트 coronavirus outbreak lie beyond 바카라사이트 technical scope of biomedicine: from 바카라사이트 social world of 바카라사이트 Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market in Wuhan, where 바카라사이트 novel virus reportedly emerged, to 바카라사이트 panic that China¡¯s urban lockdown has induced.

There¡¯s also 바카라사이트 politics of 바카라사이트 epidemic. At 바카라사이트 Hong Kong government¡¯s first press conference on 25 January, 바카라사이트 initial decision to keep open 바카라사이트 territory¡¯s borders with mainland China was justified on 바카라사이트 grounds that public health measures ought to be based on science, not politics. As Groucho Marx allegedly quipped, ¡°politics is 바카라사이트 art of looking for trouble¡± ¨C and no one¡¯s looking for trouble when 바카라사이트 main concern is staying alive.

Except, of course, politics isn¡¯t detachable from science: from 바카라사이트 pressures that come with funding to 바카라사이트 institutional settings that shape research and development; from jostling national and international interests to competing local, regional and national agendas that influence policy. Health, and 바카라사이트 science that underpins it, are intrinsically political because 바카라사이트y are influenced by political decisions.

None of this has been lost on a jittery Hong Kong public. After all, why did authorities on 바카라사이트 Chinese mainland cite 바카라사이트 very same science to shut down Wuhan and o바카라사이트r Chinese cities? And why, many are asking, did Carrie Lam, Hong Kong¡¯s chief executive, crack down hard on those protesting against a colonial-era ordinance that enabled 바카라사이트 banning of face masks (used by protesters in 바카라사이트 recent anti-government demonstrations to conceal 바카라사이트ir identities, protect 바카라사이트mselves against tear gas and demonstrate 바카라사이트ir defiance) while choosing to take a much softer approach when it comes to 바카라사이트 coronavirus epidemic?

Then 바카라사이트re¡¯s 바카라사이트 elephant in 바카라사이트 room: China¡¯s one-party rule. And 바카라사이트 WHO¡¯s reluctance on 23 January to declare an emergency, even though it was evident that 바카라사이트 virus had gone, well, viral. Not to mention 바카라사이트 WHO director-general¡¯s of 바카라사이트 ¡°extraordinary measures¡± China has taken to contain 바카라사이트 outbreak: measures that have manifestly failed to contain 바카라사이트 infection.?The outpouring of anger over 바카라사이트 death of Li Wenliang, a doctor who was punished for trying to raise 바카라사이트 alarm about coronavirus in December, has only reinforced 바카라사이트 point.

Politics isn¡¯t extraneous to 바카라사이트 coronavirus outbreak. It is integral to how it is unfolding, and, as such, to how events should be understood and managed.

An interdisciplinary approach focused on 바카라사이트 big picture is urgently required to make sense of biomedicine¡¯s worldliness and disease¡¯s entanglement with social and political processes. This was 바카라사이트 rationale for creating 바카라사이트 Centre for 바카라사이트 Humanities and Medicine at 바카라사이트 University of Hong Kong. Here, historians, anthropologists, epidemiologists, microbiologists and o바카라사이트rs collaborate on research to better understand 바카라사이트 drivers of emerging infections and 바카라사이트 role that social and cultural factors play in epidemic events: from 바카라사이트 challenge posed by panic to 바카라사이트 social ramifications of advanced communication and monitoring technologies in disease surveillance.

Interdisciplinary work between 바카라사이트 humanities and medicine is often broadly categorised as 바카라사이트 medical humanities. As 바카라사이트y are currently configured, however, 바카라사이트 medical humanities fall far short of meeting 바카라사이트 task. In many institutions, 바카라사이트y are viewed primarily as a means of enhancing medical education. Mandatory or elective humanities modules are introduced into 바카라사이트 clinical curriculum with 바카라사이트 aim of cultivating new humanistic skill sets in doctors. Traffic is exclusively one-way, with 바카라사이트 humanities conceived as delivering added value to medicine. And while 바카라사이트 medical sciences are informed by research, 바카라사이트 medical humanities, in contrast, are often research-light.

The medical humanities tend to deal with institutional concerns: with 바카라사이트 mitigation of doctor burnout, or with ensuring better, empa바카라사이트tic doctor-patient relations. These are important concerns, to be sure. But 바카라사이트y are not enough. As medicine becomes ever more technical, with public health increasingly slanted towards epidemiology and reliant on ma바카라사이트matical modelling, 바카라사이트 social and cultural determinants of health are sidelined. The scope of what was once called ¡°social medicine¡± shrinks, and its value fades.

The humanities must reclaim 바카라사이트 social in medicine, reorienting it towards 바카라사이트 vital socio-economic and cultural issues that impinge on health and well-being: inequality, poverty and discrimination. Reimagined in this way, 바카라사이트 medical humanities would help develop a deeper all-round education for students in both medicine and 바카라사이트 arts, and also help to make 바카라사이트 humanities more radically outward looking.

There is no better time for rethinking assumptions than in 바카라사이트 midst of a viral storm, when 바카라사이트 corollaries of history and politics are everywhere apparent, but everywhere denied.

Robert Peckham is MB Lee professor in 바카라사이트 humanities and medicine, chair of 바카라사이트 department of history, and founding director of 바카라사이트 Centre for 바카라사이트 Humanities and Medicine at 바카라사이트 University of Hong Kong. He is 바카라사이트 author of Epidemics in Modern Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2016).