Tackling Challenges of COVID-19: An Assessment of the Convergence- Divergence Debates from the Global South-India

The World Health Organization (WHO) officially announced COVID-19 as a global pandemic in March 2020 which in effect transformed the society, economy, the politics and indeed our everyday life. Such a transformation of power geometries across all manner of spaces and their geographies disrupted the finite balance and wellbeing and continues to displace norms of equanimity, sanity, and hope amidst the catalogue of errors, blunders and inactivity. In India the first COVID-19 case was registered on January 30, 2020. The response of 29 States and 7 Union Territories of India has varied depending on their health, community, law and order and legislative infrastructure. This chapter will attempt to situate an analysis of coronavirus pandemic within the demographic transition framework of India. We examine the critical role of civil societies across the states, divergence of policies and practices relating to social distancing, contact tracing, and differential Public Health Agency infrastructures in operation across the States of India. What began as a stigma, followed by populist rhetoric quickly faded into intense struggle for survival even as oxygen, essential medicines and of course hospital beds became a premium in the most affluent parts of any given city. The grim reaper became a great leveller cutting across socially constructed boundaries of class, gender, age, caste and religion. The management of this pandemic and the established protocols for treatment remain tentative even as we learn lessons from yet another mutant strain. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

One hundred years of health in a demographic, epidemiological and public policy context: the transition of childhood morbidity and its challenges

Chile is in an advanced stage of demographic and epidemiological transition. It is in this scenario that the political, economic and health crisis occurred, with the social outbreak in 2019 and then the COVID-19 pandemic. The mortality of children and adolescents dropped significantly, however, changes in lifestyles and demotivation, associated with long confinement and worsening health of parents and caregivers triggered an epidemic of mental health, developmental and nutritional pro-blems. Pediatricians were forced to reinvent themselves, exposing themselves to stress and burnout. The aim of the manuscript is to describe the demographic, epidemiological and public policy context of child health in Chile in the last century, as a backdrop to dimension the immediate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new health challenges for this age group in the medium and long term are discussed. Some theories, conceptualizations, and relevant milestones of the public health system in Chile are presented. The emergence of "post-pandemic morbidity", such as sedentary lifestyle, food insecurity, screen addiction, identity conflicts, violence, mental health disorders and reemergence of morbidity and mortality due to infectious and contagious diseases is discussed. Professionals respon-sible for the care of children must redouble their efforts to provide comprehensive care, accompan-ying families in the new challenges, in order to rehabilitate a healthy childhood.

Post-Covid-19 Recovery and Resilience-Building in the Outermost Regions of the European Union: Towards a New European Strategy

The socio-economic environment of the outermost regions of the European Union was severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Due to their geographical and historical specificities, the outermost regions were significantly lagging behind the rest of the European Union in terms of economic indicators even in the pre-pandemic period. Expectedly, COVID-19-induced shocks additionally potentiated their development gap. The purpose of this paper is to summarise the multiple impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Reunion, Martinique, Mayotte, and Saint Martin (France), the Azores and Madeira (Portugal), and the Canary Islands (Spain), and the related legislative responses of the European Union aiming at eliminating adverse effects of the crisis and building more resilient societies. The factual assessment is carried out primarily through the prism of the European Commission's 2021 Study on the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Outermost Regions, which underlines the health, economic and social repercussions of the crisis as well as a recommended set of recovery and resilience-building measures in the outermost regions. The legal analysis focuses on the ongoing codification of the rules and measures regulating the governance of the outermost regions as integral parts of the European Union. Pursuant to Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the European Union shall adopt specific measures for laying down the conditions for the development of the outermost regions, such as those in the area of fiscal policy, European Structural and Investment Funds, State-aid, agriculture and fisheries policies, and others. In that regard, the paper looks into the recently adopted regulations facilitating the use of EU funds and particular benefits (e.g. tax exemptions) in the outermost regions. Special emphasis is put on the currently tabled initiatives for an updated regulatory framework enabling the outermost regions to improve and strengthen their overall socio-economic position. That mainly refers to the forthcoming European strategy for the outermost regions, to be adopted in 2022. The respective strategy shall lay the foundations for a new strategic approach of the European Union to shaping a sustainable and resilient future for the outermost regions apt to face the challenges of the 21st century, notably those related to green, digital, and demographic transition.

Harnessing Demographic Dividend Before it is Lost Forever in India.

Based on the secondary data taken from Population Census, and the Employment-Unemployment Surveys and Periodic Labour Force Survey of the National Sample Survey, it is found that Indian economy is passing through a critical phase of economic development in which it is likely to lose its demographic advantage. Because, in India while about 4.5 million people were leaving agriculture every year prior to the Covid-19 pandemic years, the non-farm sectors job was not growing adequately to accommodate the persons leaving agriculture, and the newly educated non-farm job seekers. As a result there was an upsurge in educated youth unemployment (18% and about 24 million) rate, and hence the discouraged youth labour force. On the other hand, an increase in the share (from 8.0 to 10.2%) and growth (3.0-5.1%) of elderly population put a question on the process of harnessing demographic dividend in India. Based on these findings it is argued that an integrated approach of development is necessary to boost the labour force participation of youth and overall population to boost the growth of per capita national state domestic product (NSDP) in Indian states. This could be achieved through the promotion of micro and small enterprises along with infrastructure development along with a systematic emigration and remittances policy.

One hundred years of health in a demographic, epidemiological and public policy context: the transition of childhood morbidity and its challenges

Chile is in an advanced stage of demographic and epidemiological transition. It is in this scenario that the political, economic and health crisis occurred, with the social outbreak in 2019 and then the COVID-19 pandemic. The mortality of children and adolescents dropped significantly, however, changes in lifestyles and demotivation, associated with long confinement and worsening health of parents and caregivers triggered an epidemic of mental health, developmental and nutritional pro-blems. Pediatricians were forced to reinvent themselves, exposing themselves to stress and burnout. The aim of the manuscript is to describe the demographic, epidemiological and public policy context of child health in Chile in the last century, as a backdrop to dimension the immediate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new health challenges for this age group in the medium and long term are discussed. Some theories, conceptualizations, and relevant milestones of the public health system in Chile are presented. The emergence of "post-pandemic morbidity", such as sedentary lifestyle, food insecurity, screen addiction, identity conflicts, violence, mental health disorders and reemergence of morbidity and mortality due to infectious and contagious diseases is discussed. Professionals respon-sible for the care of children must redouble their efforts to provide comprehensive care, accompan-ying families in the new challenges, in order to rehabilitate a healthy childhood. Copyright © 2022, Sociedad Chilena de Pediatria. All rights reserved.

Демографическое развитие в свете кризисов XXI века: теоретический анализ

Статья посвящена теоретическому анализу кризисов ХХI столетия как составной части демографического развития. Рассматриваемые кризисы являются результатом шоков, внешних по отношению к демографической сфере. В период кризисов ее зависимость от других социальных систем усиливается и она оказывается включенной в цепь каскадных эффектов негативного характера. Стадиальные теории демографического развития, предназначенные для осмысления длительных и плавных процессов, теряют в этот период объяснительную и прогностическую силу. Возникает потребность в системном анализе кризисов, нацеленном на оценку устойчивости демографической сферы к внешним шокам, выявление «узких мест» на ее стыках с природной средой и другими социальными сферами. Анализ предварительных итогов пандемии и миграционных кризисов, проведенный в пространстве бинарных оппозиций, свидетельствует о том, что направление движения между их полюсами в период кризисов меняется. Нарастает конфликтность, вызванная структурной неоднородностью современного мира, и его непредсказуемость. Проекциями этих перемен на демографическое развитие являются снижение продолжительности жизни, многомиллионные потоки вынужденных мигрантов, далеких в своем демографическом поведении от «постматериалистической» мотивации, низкий уровень рождаемости. В то же время, судя по данным за первые шесть – девять месяцев 2021 г., в развитых странах существенных отличий рождаемости от ее уровня в 2020 г. не наблюдалось, возможно потому, что потенциал ее снижения был исчерпан еще в 2010-е гг.Alternate :The article discusses demographic development through the lens of COVID‑19 pandemic and migration crises of the 21st century. During such crises homeostatic mechanisms built in the demographic system cannot withstand exogenic shocks. Interdependence between demographic system and its social and natural environment intensifies. To comprehend development in the period of crisis it is necessary to apply systemic approach that focuses on feedback loops, cascade effects and vulnerabilities. The reasons why epidemiological transition theory failed to predict possibility of the pandemics similar in the scope and impacts to COVID‑19 are analyzed. While one of the versions of this theory views epidemiological transition as a process completed in the developed countries, others, in the wake of events, added new stages to epidemiological transition and failed to predict unexpected dramatic changes. This failure of epidemiological transition theory shows that pandemics and migration crises cannot be comprehended by stadial demographic theories for they are intended to describe smooth and long-term processes. In the period of crises, the discourse of weaponization of mass migration become more influential. Increasing flow of refugees do not fit well with ideas of extending 'post-material' and shrinking 'material' motivation of behaviour in general and demographic behaviour in particular. Pandemic, armed conflicts and large-scale forced migrations challenge the success stories so popular among social theorists in the last decades.

Why an early Belt and Road Initiative East Africa hub? Economic, demographic and security factors

Purpose>This purpose of this paper is to explore China’s choice to focus early Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Africa outreach on Eastern Africa. The BRI specifically seeks to achieve ten economic and policy objectives, as outlined in the two launch speeches of 2013. In terms of realising these, the economic development and digitisation levels, that progress of the demographic transition, and the important security context of the sub-region, logically make East Africa relatively important to BRI in continental context. Kenya specifically is important in being an African frontier therein, and, also, because it shares a few important borders with landlocked countries, including Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda, alongside a strategic coast and ports. From this lens, as well the fact that in the Ming Dynasty Chinese fleets reached what is modern-day Kenya, China’s early BRI outreach to Africa having had a historical precedent in initially focusing on Eastern Africa, might be usefully understood.Design/methodology/approach>To realise that aim a comprehensive survey of related literature and policy documents, in Chinese, English and Swahili, was undertaken and relevant data compiled and analysed.Findings>To the best of the authors’ knowledge, first, this paper is the first to argue that the Belt and Road Initiative in Africa may build on long-run logic in terms of economics, demographic change and security. This provides a contrary perspective to the pre-existing established “debt trap diplomacy” and no consistent logic narratives. Second, it is the first to offer a synthesised analysis of the BRI in Africa, East Africa specifically, looking across economic, demographic and security angles.Research limitations/implications>The paper is a synthesis of development and regional economics literature that forges some prospective rationales only. It is not an empirical research paper drawing very specific and definitive conclusions.Practical implications>Amid widespread geo-economic tensions and uncertainty, around the Belt and Road Initiative in particular, this paper offers a new economic development-oriented logic for the choice of an important node of the China's Belt and Road Initiative, that of East Africa, Kenya especially. This may impact existing related narratives and policy responses.Social implications>Equivalently to the above this may then have an impact on the ground in East Africa and beyond.Originality/value>The first such or even close to synthesis.

Modern Infectious Diseases: Macroeconomic Impacts and Policy Responses

We discuss and review literature on the macroeconomic effects of epidemics and pan-demics since the late twentieth century. First, we cover the role of health in driv -ing economic growth and well-being and discuss standard frameworks for assessing the economic burden of infectious diseases. Second, we sketch a general theoretical framework to evaluate the trade-offs policy makers must consider when addressing infectious diseases and their macroeconomic repercussions. In so doing, we emphasize the dependence of economic consequences on (i) disease characteristics;(ii) inequal-ities among individuals in terms of susceptibility, preferences, and income;and (iii) cross-country heterogeneities in terms of their institutional and macroeconomic environments. Third, we study pharmaceutical and nonpharmaceutical policies aimed at mitigating and preventing infectious diseases and their macroeconomic repercus-sions. Fourth, we discuss the health toll and economic impacts of five infectious dis-eases: HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, influenza, and COVID-19. Although major epidemics and pandemics can take an enormous human toll and impose a staggering economic burden, early and targeted health and economic policy interventions can often mitigate both to a substantial degree. (JEL E20, H50, I12, I14, I15, I18, J17)

Digital Transformation as a Demographic and Economic Integrated Policy for Southeast Asian Developing Countries

The age of Southeast Asian developing countries’ populations is still younger than that of other regions around the world. However, recent statistics show that the tide is now turning in this regard, with many of these populations beginning to age at rates much faster than many other countries. Such developments require immediate policy action in order to create a sustainable path towards economic growth before demographic changes become less benign in the medium term. In this study, we discuss the economic consequences of population aging, increases in the economic support ratio, and a declining potential growth rate. We argue that it is essential for Southeast Asian developing countries to raise total factor productivity (TFP) growth rates so as to achieve more sustainable economic outcomes. By conducting panel regressions using data from 82 countries across the 1996–2019 study period, our study shows that increasing research and development (R&D) spending and the facilitation of structural changes that transform the digital economy landscape are key policy options that promote TFP growth.

Family life and the demographic transition in MENA countries: implications for social policy

This paper reviews recent demographic and familial changes in the Middle East and North African countries (MENA), which parallel the developments associated with the second demographic transition that has transformed population profiles and family life in the more developed OECD countries. The emerging needs for family-oriented policies are analysed in relation to these changes. And the current levels of social protection in the MENA region are assessed along with the recent measures initiated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper offers evidence of the demographic transition underway in the region, as many countries are experiencing declining fertility rates combined with an increase in life expectancy, which creates a rising old age dependency ratio. This in turn adds an additional burden of elderly dependents on the working age population and on the state's capacity to care for elderly dependents, which generates an increasing need to expand social protection in the MENA region. © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Social Policy Association.

Nutrition and Food Security in Bangladesh: Achievements, Challenges, and Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Bangladesh has experienced remarkable transformation in demographic, health, and nutritional status of the population. The changes have exposed the population to a number of challenges, the detrimental effect of which on health and nutrition is likely to be increased by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We provide an overview of health and nutritional challenges in Bangladesh in relation to demographic transition and the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We identified and reviewed recent reports, published articles, and pertinent gray literature on nutrition and food security in Bangladesh to provide historical and contextual information. RESULTS: The review identifies the progress as well as existing burden regarding nutrition and food security in Bangladesh and highlights the challenges in the coming days in regard to population growth and the COVID-19 pandemic. The country is on track to reduce all forms of childhood undernutrition, while the proportion of nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases is rising owing to changes in dietary intake, low physical activity, and sedentary lifestyle. CONCLUSIONS: Despite remarkable progress, health and nutritional status of the population in Bangladesh faces challenges, particularly in relation to demographic transition and compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, which require concerted attention from policymakers as well as stakeholders.