November 16: Victorian Global Citizens: Solidarity in (and out of) a Pandemic

Anita Ho, Associate Professor, Centre for Applied Ethics, University of British Columbia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abstract

After a slow start to the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, more than 75% of Canadians have now received at least 1 vaccine dose, compared to just over 3% of people in low-income countries.  As various wealthy nations start planning for booster doses, how should we think about ongoing disparities that will likely have intergenerational impact? The pandemic has highlighted how we are globally connected but unequally affected by virtue of our policies and practices. Should local and national governments focus on their own populations in their pandemic response, even if that means others will be left behind by design? Using different examples, this session will look at how taking solidarity seriously may be the only way to interrupt the disparity pathway and get all of us out of the pandemic.

Anita Ho is a bioethicist and health services researcher with a unique combined academic training and experience in philosophy, clinical/organizational ethics, public health, and business. She is a bioethics faculty member at both UBC and the University of California, San Francisco, and the Regional Director of Ethics for Providence (Northern California).  An international scholar and author of more than 70 publications, Anita is particularly interested in systemic and social justice issues arising in health care, domestically and internationally.  Her COVID-related research has been focusing on global disparity in resource allocation, the role of trust in pandemic communication, and the ethical dimensions of digital public health surveillance. Broadening on the theme of digital health monitoring, Anita is currently completing a book manuscript on the ethics of using artificial intelligence in health monitoring, to be published by Oxford University Press.