How did you get "so you don't know" from what I told you? Were you expecting a mathematical formula? Are you really trying to suggest that the burden of proof is on me for not taking the time to exhaustively demonstrate that "poverty will kill millions more before their healthy life expectancy"? You'd think we have progressed to the point where people can see the benefits that civilisation will bring. Forgive me for choosing not to spend the rest of my Saturday night writing a thesis on why water is wet.
What do you think health outcomes are like for homeless people vs those with a fixed address? Or for those living in a household for with secure full-time employment vs one where the main earner is doing cash-in-hand or part-time work? Or households that can afford to heat their home versus those who cannot?
If you cannot understand the topic from the
King's Fund (simple) or the
Marmot Review (advanced) then there's nothing more I can do. feck the economy, and you're fecking the health of your entire population long term and reducing people's healthy life expectancy by far more than the immediate effects of COVID-19. Even Italy is still trying to keep
many businesses and workplaces open, despite the rest of their lockdown and
are pumping billions in to try and save their economy.
Yes, the burden of proof is on you, you're the one:
1) Claiming poverty will kill millions
more (
than the virus?) before their healthy life expectancy. Obviously here I have to interpret "poverty" as
extra poverty caused by more stringent public health measures. How can you claim that if you can't even guess a number that reflects this economic cost?
2) Implying that, even if the above claim could be proven true, there is actually a "choice" to be made between:
- More short-term deaths, delayed Economic downturn, which will lead to more saved lives in the future
- More lives saved in the short-term, but an anticipated (by weeks?) Economic downturn, which will lead to more long-term deaths
You seem to support the idea that the first choice might be better from an utilittarian point of view - This is a huge claim. And the burden of proof is on you.
What exactly is your role on WHO, if you don't mind sharing? I understand you work in Public Health, but are you a doctor, statistician, economist?
PS: I am a Doctor and I don't need links to websites talking about health determinants. That's what you learn on the first five minutes of Public Health on an average 3rd year medical curriculum