Richard Horton is a physician graduated from the University of Birmingham and, since the mid-1990s, edits The Lancet magazine, England’s most prestigious health publication.In an article written by him, the doctor posits that, if you talk about what’s going on in the world, it would be more appropriate to talk about a syndemic rather than a pandemic. This word, created from the words “synergy” and “pandemic”, refers to the simultaneous existence of two or more epidemics or pandemics which together cause greater than separate damage.
In this sense, Horton uses the term coined by Merrill Singer to bring him into the world’s situation with respect to COVID-19, which interacts with noncommunicable diseases (NSDs) such as diabetes or cancer. In addition, for the editor of the journal, the coronavirus presents much more lethal results in angry social sectors and little purchasing power. “Approaching coronavirus as a syndemic will invite a broader vision, covering education, employment, housing, food and the environment. Seeing COVID-19 only as a pandemic excludes a prospect as broad as necessary,” Horton said, “In that sense, Horton joins what Merrill Singer posints as a solution against coronavirus: “Addressing the structural factors that make it harder for the poor to access health or a proper diet.”
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