Thread by @AbraarKaran

Short thread on #covid19 and inequity

1/ What's happening in this pandemic is awful

No one deserves it.

That includes people that have awful things happen to them all the time, even before #covid19.

As doctors, we hold these people close in our heart. Many are our patients.

2/ An outbreak like #covid19 quickly exposes inequity.

But- that exposure is important as well

It creates space to change things. To acknowledge what is usually systematically suppressed

To do something about our otherwise glacially changing status quo that preserves classism

3/
That preserves racism. That preserves exploitation & marginalization. That preserves exclusion.

Any efforts at building walls, real & metaphorical, w/ your neighbors will be dead ends.

Viruses don't care who you are, how much you earn, what you look like, where you live

4/ The failure to treat our wealthiest & our poorest with the same standards will continue to drive this outbreak out of reach.

True at a global level.

Even when society does re-open in some future, until we have systems in place that protect all of us, none of us are safe

5/
But, there is opportunity to do good.

The chance to leverage this social energy & make massive changes to all of our problematic organizational infrastructures should not be underestimated.

It is not every day- not even every century-that we get a wake-up call like this.

6/ We are in a state of connectedness against a common enemy that is unbelievably rare.

I have seen small acts of kindness almost daily that in my last several years in Boston I had only seen rarely.

I think for many, the goodness inherent in us is driving our actions.

7/ Let us continue to pave a way of:
-justice
-equity
-kindness
-love
-bravery
-other-centeredness

and let's make sure that these ideals outlast #covid19.

They will be the same ones that build the fortress of preparedness that we'll need to stop the next epidemic.

cc @syramadad @RobertBonacci @s_keshavjee @LashNolen @RheaBoydMD @RanuDhillon @DrMishalK @choo_ek @gregggonsalves @rajpanjabi @eshantang @kj_seung @JeremyKonyndyk @IngridKatzMD @JoiaMukherjee @PIH @BrighamWomens @acsifferlin @drdavidwalton

8/ This is not meant to be a "feel-good" thread.

I work in #globalhealth

We deal with rationing of care regularly.

We have seen death become normalized.

But these are ideals that have carried me forward through tough work, time and time again.