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We are Chinese Health and Humanities students from UCL, and in the Covid and China debate, our team is dedicated to talking about the topic of global health (politics) and to asking you questions!
Questions for Professor Therese Hesketh
Questions for Professor Dame Anne Johnson
Questions for Dr Zhou Xun
Questions for Professor Sun Ji Ming
Questions for Professor Therese Hesketh
by Xinqi LI
Q1: Why is Qingdao’s testing of all residents considered a waste of public resources, and on what basis? This is reasonable in terms of epidemiology, and the UK has also invested a lot of resources in testing. And compared with Qingdao's GDP, the cost of testing is a drop in the ocean.
The reason why I want to propose this question:
Therese Hesketh (2020) The current issues around Covid-19 in China [Online] [Accessed 20 November 2020]
Q2: During this special period, the exercise of personal freedom may have a negative impact on the people around one. Why does China's control make some people from other countries think that is a violation of human rights? Many countries have also taken lockdown measures. It is similar in nature.
The reason why I want to propose this question:
In democratic countries where people are accustomed to freedom, controlling a disease like Covid-19 is very difficult. In China, there has been an overwhelming sense of trust in the government’s handling of the epidemic. However, some people from other countries think that is a violation of human rights.
Questions for Professor Dame Anne Johnson
by Yu SHAO
Q1: Is the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines currently being developed in countries around the world applicable globally? (Including the vaccine developed by Pfizer, which reported a 95% efficacy rate in phase III clinical trials)
The reason why I want to propose this question:
Different countries and pharmaceutical companies use different strains of the virus in vaccine research, and there is speculation that the Covid-19 virus has mutated. Will vaccines have obvious regional characteristics, so for example, European vaccines may not be effective in the Asia area?
Q2: Is the herd immunity policy introduced in UK in the first half of this year medically justified by infectious diseases? Or is herd immunity just a political tactic that the British authorities had no choice but to implement in the face of a sudden outbreak of the epidemic?
The reason why I want to propose this question:
Herd immunity’ refers to the large-scale infection of a certain infectious disease in biological groups. After recovery, the body will automatically generate immunity to the infectious disease, so as to ensure that this infectious disease will not break out on a large scale in the future. Due to the backwardness of medical and health conditions in ancient times, herd immunity can be said to be a desperate solution. Only through their own resistance to fight the virus. But herd immunity has its limitations and comes at the cost of mass infection with infectious diseases. The practice of herd immunity in modern societies seems to violate humanitarian and moral norms.
Questions for Dr Zhou Xun
by Mengyun ZHANG
Q1: Is there any Chinese historical experience of infectious diseases (such as plague in the 19th century) that can be utilised in this epidemic of Covid19 in China and even in western countries? What is the possibility and limitation of such utilisation?
The reason why I want to propose this question:
In addition to traditional Chinese medicine, what I would like to know is how effective is the wisdom and methods (including some systems and policies) accumulated by China in the face of epidemic diseases since ancient times? I think this is a kind of collision between humanities and technology in some way.
Q2: How can the clinical experience and spirit of Chinese barefoot doctors be extended in today’s epidemic of Covid19?
The reason why I want to propose this question:
Most of the outbreaks of Covid19 we see are in urban areas, and I‘m curious if people in remote areas are diagnosed with Covid19, except for transferring to hospitals in cities, is it possible to get medical care by consulting barefoot doctors? Or, conversely, what are the limitations and potential of barefoot doctors for infectious diseases like Covid19?
Questions for Professor Sun Ji Ming
by Lexin OUYANG
Q1: What influence has Covid-19 had in terms of pushing the Chinese government to share specific information to people immediately?
The reason why I want to propose this question:
We know that some doctors like Ai Fen and Li Wenliang warned their colleagues and hospital administrators of the communicable virus last December, but officials in Hubei province didn’t share this immediately. With the epidemic rapidly growing in February, people noticed the information gap between local government and ordinary people. And central government also dismissed several relevant local officials. After this, the statistics and information of Covid-19 usually have been shared quickly on various social media. Recently, even the appearance of one confirmed case may bring a number of media reports. Perhaps the epidemic has contributed to government’s information sharing?
Q2: What have been the successes of the government in educating the public about epidemic prevention during the epidemic, and what direction needs to be taken?
The reason why I want to propose this question:
As we can see, there are many ways to disseminate epidemic prevention knowledge to the public, with varying results, and this will provide some new references and lessons for the media and public opinion during future epidemics.