Despite the future looking bright and hopeful for much of North America due to vaccine rollout and subsequent increasing immunity against COVID-19, other parts of the world continue to suffer. The reasons for suffering might involve tension with governments or even directly relate to COVID-19.
For instance, American troops in Afghanistan are currently (and finally) returning to the U.S. by September 11th. This means different things for the country. With the troops withdrawing, the Taliban, a terrorist organization, are trying to prevent women from acquiring education, squashing out women’s rights, and making it harder for women to teach and work. Pursuing an education or even being involved at a school as a woman could result in death and murder by the Taliban. Girls are forced to study in private residences, in solitary, and back in 2001 there were no schools for girls across the country. Although the U.S. has caused so much unrest by waging wars in many developing countries, many Afghanis (particularly women and minorities) face more unrest with the troops leaving.
Another instance in Iraq involved an oxygen tank exploding at a hospital, resulting in the deaths of 44 people and 67 being injured. In Iraq, 17,592 people have been killed by COVID-19 and there are more than 1.4 million infections. The oxygen tank exploding is also alarming because patients died at the place where they were trying to already get help for preexisting conditions and ailments. This isn’t the first case of this type of accident. In April, a fire due to an oxygen tank explosion at a COVID-19 hospital in Baghdad killed 82 people and injured 110 others. This is alarming because this is a recurring incident and shows that policy changes, quality control, and health and safety inspections are needed. Investment into hospitals is also needed; however, due to a lack of infrastructure and adequate funding, this will be very difficult.
Lastly, the situation in India is still very serious, even though the media may no longer focus on it. India currently has 31,025,114 COVID-19 cases. This is such a scary piece of data, but it’s more than just a number; this data value represents human life. A person who is affected by oxygen shortages, a lack of social distancing (due to the high population density), and someone who probably witnessed (and inhaled) the smoke from the mass funeral pyres. Cases are still on the rise. We must remember that this is not a “they versus us” issue, but a humanity issue. Even if another country across the ocean continues to suffer, we must try and offer help in whatever way we can – whether this be through financial means such as GodFunMe’s, spiritually by praying, or by encouraging governmental aid and signing petitions.
References:
https://time.com/6078072/afghanistan-withdrawal-taliban-girls-education/