Diseases perhaps worse than Coronavirus

Published in El Pais, 11 April 2020 and in Los Tiempos 18 April 2020*.

Until now, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) has killed more than 96,000 people and some estimates say that this number will reach more than 300,000 when the pandemic ends. Governments are sacrificing their economies and many people are suffering due to their health or economic situation. Of course, every unnecessary death is terrible, but if you read the numbers below, perhaps there is something else to think about after the coronavirus to save other lives.

• According to an article in The Lancet, normal flu is responsible for the death of between 291 and 646 thousand global people. And this number does not even include pandemics.
• In the Netherlands up to now 2396 people have died from COVID-19 and estimates say that it will reach up to 4000 people. But in 2018, about 9,400 people have died from normal flu in the Netherlands.
• Diarrhea is one of the main causes of infant death in the world. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) more than 800,000 children die from diarrhea each year. It is worth saying that with some investment you could prevent these deaths.
• In 2017, some 435,000 people died of malaria according to the WHO. About 405,000 were from Africa. And so far across Africa, 200 people have died from the Coronavirus.
• El cáncer es una de las principales causas de muerte en el mundo. Datos de la OMS muestran que, en el 2018, unos 1.75 millones de personas murieron por cáncer de pulmones y 90% eran fumadores.
• The BBC shows that in 2016 in the United States alone there were 38,658 deaths from firearms. Of these 22,938 were suicides and 14,415 homicides. In addition, about 43,000 people with depression committed suicide in the USA.
• Tuberculosis is one of the ten main causes of death. In 2018, about 1.5 million people died from this disease according to the WHO.
• Every year around 1.35 million people die in traffic accidents according to data from the CDC.
• The death toll from hunger-related illness is estimated by FAO and the United Nations to be around 9 million annually. 22.8% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa lives undernourished.

Despite this reality in numbers, it is the first time that the entire world is sacrificing itself so strongly to save lives from the Coronavirus. Perhaps if we achieve this union and effort we will be able to save other lives more.

*Title in Los Tiempos was changed to: “Hay males más mortales que el coronavirus”