EP.873: Dr. Vandana Shiva: Why Treating Coronavirus as a War Will NOT Work!

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Dr. Vandana Shiva, the founder of Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Natural Resource Policy who was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’. She discusses why the war-like approach of government’s around the world to fight Coronavirus (COVID-19) will not succeed, how Coronavirus and other viral diseases such as Swine Flu and Bird Flu have been the result of monoculture factory farms and neoliberal capitalism, how big agriculture and the ‘poison cartel’ have caused the weakening of ecosystems and humans, which has resulted in humans being more susceptible to viruses, how a lack of diversity caused by the big agricultural industry has made viral diseases more inevitable, the damage GMO seeds have caused to ecosystems and have made pandemics more likely, why there must be a fight against neoliberalism and neoliberal capitalism, why big tech executives like Mark Zuckerberg are the new ‘robber barons’ and more! Finally, we speak to Tony O’Sullivan, the Director of ‘Keep Our NHS Public’. He discusses the damage privatisation and underfunding under governments since Thatcher has done to the NHS, why the NHS can’t produce its own PPE and is now relying on China for PPE, the revelations of the Operation Cygnus which showed in 2016 that the UK was unprepared for a pandemic situation and more!

STATEMENT FROM THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION:

WHO is deeply concerned about the impact the pandemic will have on other health services, especially for children. Prevention services for other infectious diseases and immunization campaigns have been put on hold or shut down in some countries, because of COVID-19. We call on the global community to ensure this life saving work is fully funded.

WHO has issued detailed guidance on the issue. Please see this publication, on maintaining essential health services and systems: https://www.who.int/publications-detail/covid-19-operational-guidance-for-maintaining-essential-health-services-during-an-outbreak

See also our COVID-19 strategy where these topics are addressed in detail.
https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/covid-strategy-update-14april2020.pdf?sfvrsn=29da3ba0_19

The issue was also addressed at one of our press meetings recently: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/transcripts/who-audio-emergencies-coronavirus-press-conference-20apr2020.pdf?sfvrsn=b5656a70_2