OPINION | Warlike virus' roots lie in capitalism, demobilised statesAt the time of writing, nearly half the world had shut down and people woke up to an unfamiliar world of encroachments on physical mobility in ways not seen since the war of 1914 to 1918. It is well recognised that the Covid-19 outbreak has exposed existing fault lines in public healthcare provision and in public health crises in both the global south and the global north. The globalisation of trade is central to health services that have become a tradeable commodity and an era from which many states have disinvested. The prescripts and onerous impacts of conditional aid and state disinvestment in social provision have long been felt by African and Latin American countries. It is deeply unsettling - albeit necessary - that states are containing us to control a warlike virus that might have been prevented had the same states not neglected and commodified healthcare so shamelessly.

Source: News 24 April 16, 2020 11:26 UTC