the quicksand that caves in my chest
gives life in my death
the sweet mango grains fill lungs with involuntary smiles
I have the pleasure of my last meal being desert for dessert
my heart beats to the rhythm of the feet of my tribesman ancestors
the night before pillage takes the village
the gods have replaced Visine with Hennessy and banned the word 'sober'
so I'm in trouble again
and a motherfucker earned it
but does he deserve it
not much matters since the transtemporal DJ stopped the music
my tongue is all out of left feet
“This is a great bagel.” my friend said to me as he looked up, finishing the first bite of his breakfast. I looked back at him in disgust, he thought this was a great bagel, this was at best an okay bagel, if he wanted a really good bagel, he should go to my bagel place. It was all at once that I then realized I had been spoiled my entire life. My friend looking back at me wasn’t from New Jersey, or even the tristate area, every bagel he had ever was a fake, a mere imitation of the very breakfast I take for granted every single day. My disgust with myself for how pompous I was being quickly turned in envy for him and his innocence. I had been raised on great bagels; I can’t even remember the first time I had a bagel. Like an addict I’ve developed a tolerance, what was once a great bagel is now and okay bagel and amazing bagels are now journeys out into obscure locations where small delis will sell you hand crafted artisan bagels made of gold for 3.50.
One of the great things about going to a college in New Jersey is that I got to witness most of my out-of-state friends have their first “real” bagel. They haven’t developed a taste for real bagels yet, I doubt they’ve even had lox. Soon I watch as they become involved in arguments about the name of certain breakfast meats and become invested in whether we have enough everything bagels because plain just doesn’t do it anymore. Soon enough they’re telling me that they can’t eat bagels back home anymore and that they might have to buy a batch of frozen ones to take home for spring break.
Sharing things you love with people you love should really be your entire reason for loving the things in the first place. If everyone kept what they thought was great to themselves then the world would have way less great stuff. Seeing someone love a bagel that I just thought was okay is honestly even better than if I had loved the bagel myself. Now that my friends and I have all become bagel snobs it’s much more fun to discuss which of the bagel places is better when it isn’t just you alone in a room ranting about bagels to yourself.
The coronavirus pandemic has devastated the world, leaving no country untouched. Most states were ill equipped for a biological threat of this magnitude. Unfortunately, the world is just as unprepared for the next pandemic as it was for the COVID-19. Global health officials warn that states have not taken enough precautions to protect against another pandemic. After the COVID -19 epidemic ends, states need to act quickly to permanently mend their healthcare systems. If healthcare around the world is not improved, biological threats will continue to cause widespread destruction.
On October 1, 2020, H. E. Van Ark addressed the United Nations General Assembly on behalf of the Global Health Security Agenda. She argued that to prevent the next pandemic, states need to break the “Panic-then-forget” cycle. After an outbreak, states initially panic because they do not have the facilities in place to control the problem. During the outbreak, political officials promise that there will be changes made to the healthcare system that protect against another crisis. Finally, when the outbreak ends, states either do not make the necessary improvements to the healthcare system, or they put them in place and remove them later. The global community needs to repair the health system when there are no major outbreaks. It is not possible to solve a pandemic and improve the healthcare system simultaneously. The GHSA warns that the world still has not done enough to prepare for pandemics and following the coronavirus epidemic there will need to be major improvements to the global health system.
Before the Coronavirus pandemic, international organizations warned of the inevitable outbreak of a new disease and urged states to securitize their healthcare systems before the pandemic hit. Most states have ignored this warning. The Global Health Security Index, for example, evaluates 195 countries’ ability to identify and stop biological health risks, the likelihood of an outbreak in their borders, the capability of the healthcare system, and the state’s ability to cooperate with the international community. The GHS Index reports that all countries, even high-income countries, are not prepared for a pandemic, and 75% of countries received “very low” preparedness scores. In 2005, The World Health Organization revised the International Health Regulations (IHRs) to prevent and mitigate the spread of contagious diseases without interfering with trade. According to the CDC, no member of the WHO is in compliance with the IHS regulations. These measures are not promising, but what improvements can be made?
At the Fast Company Innovation Festival in October of 2020, global health experts gave several recommendations regarding what states can do to prevent another pandemic. As a preventative measure, there must be a system to detect the outbreak of a new health crisis that covers the whole world. It is particularly important that states do not overlook their rural populations when creating this system. People living near wilderness have a higher chance of contracting a new zoonotic disease. A zoonotic disease refers to an illness that is transmitted from an animal to a human, and most health crises over the last century have been caused by these kinds of diseases. States must also create more facilities where vaccines can be stored and distributed. Again, it is vital that no community is overlooked when these facilities are implemented.
Adding these new facilities may be less expensive than it seems. The United States would need “only $15-20 million over the next 5-10 years” to securitize the healthcare system. To put this number into perspective, the U.S. military budget is upwards of $700 billion dollars. Experts agree that securitizing healthcare would take both public and private funding, but the cost would remain relatively low. This investment would benefit the U.S. in more ways than one. A more secure healthcare system would protect against natural outbreaks, biological warfare, and bioterrorism, which are security threats that the U.S. has proven itself unprepared to handle.
Following the pandemic, states can take strategic steps to better protect against viral outbreaks. The WHO administers Joint External Evaluations on each country to gauge what health supplies they lack, as well as what they have in excess that can be shared with countries in need. Each state should participate in these evaluations and improve what they can. The Global Health Security Agenda, an organization that increases information sharing, accountability, and sustainable development in the health sectors of all member countries, has committed 100 countries to improving their healthcare systems in strategic ways before 2024. Following the recommendations of health organizations like the WHO and the GHSA is the best way for states to improve their healthcare systems.
Preventing the next pandemic may not be possible, but states can still increase preparedness to mitigate the damage. As of now, there is no reason to believe that the world is better prepared for the next pandemic than it was for the coronavirus. To end the cycle of “Panic-and-Forget,” states must act quickly after the pandemic to securitize their healthcare system. If states promise to meet the International Health Regulations, and other international health standards, it will lessen the chance of another severe outbreak. However, if states choose not to change their behavior, the next pandemic will be equally devastating as the coronavirus.
