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Ending the silence on mental health in Africa

Common Sense Contributors
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Ending the silence on mental health in Africa

In certain African countries/cultures, mental health is an issue on which many are silent, especially among the youth. There are lots of stigma and superstitions attached to it for different African countries. Mental health and physical health are inseparable. In certain African countries/cultures, mental health is an issue on which many are silent, especially among the youth.

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A young girl holding her hair // Image source: Create Zim Facebook page

Africa is a big continent with 54 different nations, cultures and language and so it’s naïve to generalise mental health in the continent. Each African nation has their different stigmas and suspicions around mental health. NGOs health organisations that work to aid some African countries with health issues deliberately link mental health with poverty and human rights. They say high prevalence of emotional distress is fuelled by the harsh economic circumstances. Some African nations are not involved in the study of psychopathology. According to the WMH surveys, lack of mental health testing and research in Africa is the only explanation for evidence of absence of mental health awareness in the region.

Mental health challenges in Africa has also been linked to a very high level of HIV/AIDS in the region causing high sucide rates . 75% of South Africans won’t get treatment, or cannot access mental health facilities, while more than 90% of people in Nigeria don’t have access to mental health care. These are the middle income nations of the continent, pointing to an even worse situation in others. WHO World Mental Health (WMH) surveys in Nigeria found low rates of mental disorders.

WHO surveys find it hard to trace mental illness causes in Africa as there is not enough studies, facilities and testing or more importantly therapists; in Nigeria a country of over 200 million people, there are 150 practising psychologists and 3.3% of the health budget goes towards mental health. Nigerian mental health professional Dr Ayo Ajeigbe said to The Guardian he received a patient in his practice who came to visit him with no request for support, only to find out what a psychologist looked like. Giving the faults to merely stigma and superstition is no longer enough. There is a need for scientific evidence and provisions and resources, which currently are chronically lacking.

Since the early 2000s there have been trials to evidence that tackling mental health in Africa can be very effective to reduce African countries’ poverty levels. African political leaders are often to blame as they overlook the role mental health can play in reducing poverty levels. Systematic reviews have shown that mental health interventions improve economic situations of households affected. Mental health is important to attain many of the Sustainable Development Goals related to poverty.

In April 2016 the World Bank and World Health Organisation commissioned Making Mental Health a global development priority. WHO global Mental Health Action Plan (2013-2020) and the World Bank’s Mind, Behaviour and Development Unit outlines the actions to fight global mental health. Nigeria’s movements towards user-led and community based services, to take action to fill this gap is one that Western nations can learn from. Networks empowering people with skills and embedding a culture of listening to people’s needs first, rather than implementing top-down systems upon them, may lead towards sustainable action.

Zimbabwe has made huge steps in it’s awareness raising for mental health challenges. The country has more than 30, 000 adults that receive mental health services every year. At least 80% of those who receive mental health therapy reports improvement after six months in their experiences.

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Zimbabwe youths smiling with#I’MFINE // Image source: Create Zim

May 18-24 May is Mental Health Awareness Week, as promoted and championed by the Mental Awareness Foundation. Tarisiro Anesu Fundira from Zimbabwe, a civil engineering 3rd year student at the University of Manchester started Create Zim, a mental health initiative to address apathy amongst the youth in Zimbabwe. After posting a short video on Instagram of himself speaking about his experience on mental health, many Zimbabwe youth have taken part in the challenge and tag their friends to speak about their mental health experience with the #I’MFINE. Creative Zim was recognised by the Chancellor at University of Manchester Lemn Sissay MBE to win the University of Manchester Outstanding public and community engagement initiative Award this year.

A member of Create Zim in a face mask with #I’MFINE // Source: Create Zim Instagram

Tarisiro was inspired by the loss of his brother Farari Anesu Fundira in July 2017. He had been suffering through depression for a couple of years and consequently took his own life. After mourning and dwelling over his death, Tarisiro was stirred to create an environment where people could have the opportunity to speak about such mental health conditions, a luxury his brother never had. Tarisiro described his work, “Create Zim is a way in which I could provide a fun and therapeutic environment in which the people of Zimbabwe could feel like they could have an opportunity to talk and face their mental health issues due to the decades of trauma our country has gone through.” He aims to use Create Zim’s momentum success to expand mental health awareness among youth of other African countries during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

Junior Usina is a managing editor at The Common Sense Network, focusing on marketing.

Agency workers are in the Coronavirus firing line

Shaun Flores
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Agency workers are in the Coronavirus firing line

Gig economy workers are not being given personal protective equipment or being tested for infection leaving them at risk of contracting coronavirus.

The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has written to the Department for Work and Pensions threatening legal action after failing to enforce EU safety at work regulations. IWGB are threatening legal action if the duty of care is not extended to include those who are not employees. 

Members of the union include foster care workers, cleaners, couriers, drivers and others in non-staff roles, who are claiming they not be provided with personal protective equipment (PPE) or tested for COVID-19.

IWGB in their letter said: “Under EU law, which still applies, the relevant measures to protect the health of workers, including in conditions caused by this pandemic, should encompass and protect not only employees but also workers who, under UK law, are not defined as employees.”

Agency NHS workers also at risk

Over the weekend before the government’s announcement of the testing expansion, The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) conducted a UK-wide survey of more than 22,000 health and care workers.

76% of those surveyed claimed no test was offered. 44% were unsure of how to access testing.

Furthermore, more than four in five temporary staff had not been offered Covid-19 testing, compared to three-quarters of permanent staff. 79% of those working outside of the NHS had not been offered a test, compared with 75% in the health service. In care homes and prisons, about 50% did not know how to access tests. With temporary staff, this figure was 60%.

Talking to NHS agency worker Mrs M Joshua, she said “I am asthmatic and struggling with the PPE given, there are no isolation procedures when a patient comes in. There should be measures when the status of somebody is not known. Staff have walked out due to lack of PPE and ended up sick.”

Mrs Joshua continued: “Agency staff sometimes are worried to speak up about PPE. Some of us agency workers are pressured to send money home, making some people take advantage of the extra shifts, which put us directly in the firing line.”

There is another level of instability, as these agency workers already go without employee benefits and rights and no guarantee of work. In an agency worker contract, ‘workers rights’ only apply when the person is actually working, rather than ‘employment rights’ that apply to regardless of an employee. Agency contracts are of course temporary, meaning no continuity or retention of contracts. These loopholes mean agency workers can fall through these government protection schemes. To then go to work and not have the adequate equipment presented adds further insult to injury. Many agency workers cannot afford to take days off, as a day off is money lost.

Losing jobs

Richard Branson - Island, Life & Companies - Biography
https://www.biography.com/business-figure/richard-branson

Recent events and the extent of the economic fall out means that jobs and employees across the board are also at risk.

Virgin Atlantic faces a “massive battle to survive and save jobs”, Richard Branson recently told his workforce of over 10,000. The company has retired its seven 747 jumbo jets and plan to cut over 3000 jobs. Branson is the 268th richest person in the world and the seventh richest person in the UK with an estimated $5.2bn (£4.2bn) paper fortune. The government recently rejected his plea for a £50m bailout for tax-payers to shoulder his losses, despite paying no taxes. Similarly, Rolls-Royce announced job cuts of 8000, which may rise further when announced at the end of this month.

Branson’s Virgin Care Ltd has been one of the biggest private providers of NHS contracts in the UK since 2010, which operates over 400 NHS services around England in community care and adult social care. These contracts have been worth over £2bn. The company has recorded an annual loss since 2010 and pays no tax in the UK, as it is registered to the parent company Virgin Group Holdings in the tax haven of the British Virgin Islands. Through a complex series of loopholes, Virgin Care eliminates it’s tax liabilities in the UK, as Richard Murphy’s research has previously shown.

Socialist Party :: Rolls-Royce: fight all job cuts!
https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/27521/20-06-2018/rolls-royce-fight-all-job-cuts

In 2018, due to Freedom of Information requests, it was revealed the NHS was relying on agency workers for years at a time and spending over £2bn a year on average since 2013 to plug staffing gaps. At some trusts, more than one in ten workers were provided by agencies.

Hospitality workers have also suffered as they have fallen through the cracks. This week forty-four cross-party MP’s signed a letter to Deliveroo calling for proper PPE provisions for all riders, a halt to terminations and regular testing, without which they say the firm is putting “thousands of people at risk”. Despite the vital work providing food across communities, especially to people who are less mobile, Deliveroo riders are all independent contractors and thus have no recourse to sick pay, minimum wage or furlough.

Rampant privatisation and hypocrisy shown by actors such as Branson at the expense of centralised funding and investment have created this false economy within the NHS. Chronic staffing shortages are causing huge problems, agency bills climb higher and yet they fail to provide workers with adequate protection. Whilst this is going on, private entities continually avoid tax payments towards the health service.

We cannot forget about other workers who have lost jobs due to COVID 19. While the government’s extension of the furlough scheme is amazing people are being left behind. The UK is the 6th biggest economy in the world, and the government have proven themselves chronically inept in putting safety over and above profits. The government must extend it’s support schemes to low-paid and agency workers, whose work has been and continues to be vital.

R number: What is it and is there a better measurement?

The Common Sense Network
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R number: What is it and is there a better measurement?

As part of our Common Sense On: Coronavirus series, Contributor Adesewa explores the meaning of the R value, its importance and its relationship with the lockdown and social distancing restrictions. 

The highlight of last Sunday’s highly anticipated briefing by Prime Minister Boris Johnson surrounded the R value. Johnson launched the new Covid Alert Level system alongside a new set of guidelines for social distancing. It was strongly emphasised that any changes to the current social distancing measures would be dependent on monitoring this R value.

The 5-tier Covid Alert System. Source: Evening Standard

What exactly is the R value? 

Until a couple months ago, the R value was a term mainly used by epidemiologists and in public health literature.

R value (R0), pronounced R-nought, refers to the basic reproduction number. It’s a way of measuring, on average, the number of people that one infected person will pass the virus onto within a population that has no immunity to the virus.  

In other words, if the R value of COVID-19 is equal to 3, this means every infected person has the ability to infect 3 other people, and each of these new cases would infect another 3 people and this continues on until there is a vaccination or immunity is reached.  

A close up of a map Description automatically generated
Transmission of COVID-19 with a R value of 3 and the impact of social distancing. Source: GOV.UK

It’s important to note that R0  is not a stable number. This number varies and is highly dependent on factors including the characteristics of the pathogen (SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes the COVID-19 disease), human behaviour and location. For example, an outbreak of COVID 19 in highly populated cities like London or New York, without any social distancing restrictions, would likely result in a higher R value than a less populated cities with these restrictions in place. 

In comparison with other known human viruses, the R0  for chickenpox ranges from 10-12 and although highly contagious, deaths are rare due to vaccination and general immunity in the population. Whereas for influenza (the common cold),  R0 ranges between 0.9 to 2.1 and even with a lower R value and vaccination, a significant number of deaths are recorded yearly due to the virus’ ability to mutate and therefore invade the immune system. 

What is the ‘ideal’ value for R?

Maintaining a value below 1 is critical to tackling the spread of the virus and informs the government of any changes to the social distancing and lockdown restrictions. A stable R value of 0.5, for example, would mean the rate at which the virus spreads is halved as an infectious person will transmit the disease to fewer people and eventually significantly slows the spread of the disease.  

What is the R value right now?

As of the 10th of May 2020, R0 in the UK is currently between 0.5-0.9 which means that the number of new cases are reducing. However, as this is a tight and fluctuating margin, any rush to remove the lockdown and social distancing measures may lead to an increase of R number above 1 and therefore damaging all the effort so far and increasing the number of new cases.

The effect of the R value and phases of social distancing restriction. Source: GOV.UK

In Germany, lockdown restrictions lifted such as shops, schools and museum openings, have contributed to an increase in R-value from below 1 to 1.13 with an increase in new cases reported.

Is there a better number than the R number?

The challenge with R number is that it does not measure how infectious the virus is. Although the government can exert a level of control over human behaviour, we cannot always control the innate properties of the virus i.e. its ability to mutate. Recent findings by researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory US have identified several mutations in the spike protein (the protein that allows the virus to invade human cells) which suggests the virus could be more infectious with an increased ability to spread. 

Scientists nationwide are moving at a speed like never before to find a vaccine for COVID-19. The best course of action remains to follow social distancing measures and isolate if you have any symptoms. This means we can collectively bring the R value down, reduces the burden on the NHS and allow them to effectively deal with current cases. 

Adesewa Adebisi is a recent Biochemistry graduate from The University of Huddersfield with an upcoming Masters of Research in Oncology. She is also Sabbatical Officer for the University of Huddersfield.

COVID-19: Private wealth over public health?

CheVaughn Starling
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COVID-19: Private wealth over public health?

COVID-19 has turned the world upside down, seeing America, leader of the world stage and self-proclaimed champion of the free world, suffering terribly. Not only are Americans growing antsy over the coronavirus, but the economy is also failing. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the American economy has plummeted severely to the brink of a recession. With the economy on the brink of crashing, some states in the U.S. feel that it is time to return to business as usual, in an attempt to save face. 

The U.S. Economy 

The spread of coronavirus in the States left the economy in ruins in less than a few weeks. More than 17 million Americans filed for unemployment within the last month, the government passed over a 2 trillion dollar bailout bill to help keep the economy afloat and GDP was down 4.1 percent. All of this triggers a domino effect on the world’s economy, which has shrunk by 3 percent – the lowest it has been since the Great Depression. Whilst the numbers are declining at rapid speeds and death count’s rising, many states in the U.S. have “opened” up in hopes to save the crumbling economy. 

Closed sign; Source:www.investors.com

States Reopening 

In hopes to turn the economy back around, many state governors have started to lift their restrictions on lockdown protocol. On the one hand, states such as Georgia and Texas are allowing non-essential businesses like movie theatres, barbershops, retail shops, and beaches to open back up. Meanwhile, states like Florida and Nevada went from a stay at home order to an “encourage stay at home” suggestion, which means people can enjoy outdoor restaurants and go to personal care shops while lightly encouraging citizens to stay at home without enforcement. 

The Risk

The purpose for stay at homes orders was to protect citizens and contain the virus. In less than 4 weeks, the U.S. went from a hand full of states with small numbers of people infected to all 50 states and over 1 million people infected.  There have been over 70,000 deaths reported in the U.S. due to COVID-19, and the numbers are steadily rising every day. The main risk in re-opening too soon could cause the U.S. to make backwards strides, fuelling a public health emergency and doubling the numbers of people infected in the matter of weeks. There doesn’t seem to be an end in sight, and with no cure for COVID-19 America could stay struggling to cope with the pandemic, both economically and socially. 

Stock markets; Source: www.essendonaccounts.co.uk

The Importance 

 While the state issued orders have slowed the progression of the virus and flattened the curve in states like California and New York, America is far from the safe zone. America is still very vulnerable to thousands of new infections monthly. Despite these grim realities, the Trump Administration seems to be willing to take the risk for the sake of returning to business as usual.

 Although the President vows to reopen America in 3-phases and take the safety of Americans seriously, one cannot help but wonder if this is a gimmick to save the economy he constantly bragged about for the last three years in hopes for re-election. COVID-19 arrived during an election year and it has not been a secret that Trump has received some backlash for his handlings of containing the virus. It seems as if the economy is worth saving more than the lives of the wider population. A stable economy is important because it affects everybody’s day to day. But a stable economy stands for little, if the majority won’t live to reap the benefits.

Shifting Blame: Who will be held responsible for COVID deaths now?

Courtney Carr
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Shifting Blame: Who will be held responsible for COVID deaths now?

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set out the Government’s steps to ease the lockdown and “control the virus” in a recent speech that addressed the British nation on Sunday evening.  Over 30,000 people have been recorded to have died in the UK from COVID-19 and the Government has struggled to meet their daily testing targets. TCS Network look into how the failures to set and meet feasible targets may be making the crisis worse.

It was only last month that the British government spent £16 million on “antibody” tests that did not work, from companies in China. Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced that the government had surpassed their COVID-19 daily testing targets of 100,000. This figure included the home test kits that were sent out by the government, but a large oversight in this is that there is no telling whether these kits were even used. Boris Johnson, perhaps prematurely, rushed to announce that the government were doubling the goal to 200,000 tests a day. As the BBC reported, Boris Johnson had said that it is his “ambition” to hit 200,000 tests by the end of May. 

Some have argued that this announcement was simply to distract the public from the fact that the government has failed to meet its original target of 100,000 a day, for several days in a row now. Britain will need to meet these goals and potentially surpass them, in order to get to the level one of the newly adopted Coronavirus Alert System, where there is no trace of COVID-19 in the UK. 

The new Coronavirus Alert System being adopted in the UK; Source:meltingood.com

The Alert System address

As the Prime Minister outlined in his address to the nation on Sunday 10th May, we must obtain more “control” of the virus as a nation before lockdown is fully eased. That being said, he is asking that those who can return to work to do so, urging people to avoid using public transport and opting to ride a bike or walk to work. 

He said: “Though we grieve for all those we have lost, it is a fact that by adopting those measures we have prevented this country from being engulfed by what could have been a catastrophe in which the reasonable worst case scenario was half a million fatalities.” 

He continued on to say, “Although we have a plan, it is a conditional plan. We cannot move forward unless we satisfy the five tests.”

These tests in summary, are to “protect the NHS”, “see sustained falls in the death rate”, “sustained and considerable falls” in the infection rate, overcome challenges in providing PPE, and to avoid and ensure that actions taken will not increase the reproduction rate (R). The Prime Minister made reference to the new Coronavirus Alert System with level 5 being “the most critical – the kind of situation that we could have had if the NHS had been overwhelmed.”

SNP Leader and First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon showed she will not be adopting the new slogan; Source: @NicolaSturgeon on Twitter

However, many testimonials of NHS workers do demonstrate that there indeed have been examples of the NHS being overwhelmed. Just recently, we here at TCS Network spoke to a diverse range of healthcare professionals who voiced their concerns over lack of protection and unclear guidance from the government. And with the UK witnessing the second highest death rates from coronavirus in the world, it seems the Prime Minister’s optimistic speech had overlooked the true reality of our poor handling of the pandemic.

Labour MP and Doctor Rosena Allin-Khan expressed her concern following the address; Source:@DrRosena on Twitter

How do testing targets fit into the picture?

It is important that the government are held accountable for their handling of the crisis, and statistics are one of the key ways to keep track of the virus. If testing targets are not met, how can we know the true scale of the virus and adequately monitor the alert level?

Furthermore,  testing is not only an important area for patients, but also for NHS workers and other key workers such as those who work in care homes and social workers. The lack of testing, especially within care homes, arguably contributed to the amount of hidden deaths that were witnessed within the UK’s most vulnerable communities.

There is also the clear question of whether the government  will be able to prevent a second wave of the virus if testing targets are not met and lockdown measures are lifted too soon. We have seen the government adopt new strategies with testing, such as testing being expanded in England to more people including those in the over-65 age bracket, as well as similar and extensive enhancements in Scotland and Wales. It is very important that in the race to defeat COVID- 19, we continue to take all the preventative measures to suppress the spread and do not disregard the seriousness of the situation. Failure to do so will compromise our public health and undermine the devastation that we have already witnessed as a result of unclear leadership.

COVID-19: The Backward West?

Common Sense Contributors
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COVID-19: The Backward West?

The year 2020 has undoubtedly transformed into one of the most devastating years in our memories. The threat of international war, the Australian fires and the outbreak of COVID-19 have touched the lives of those across the world with no regard for background, ethnicity or gender and the loss of normality has been felt worldwide. However, the dilemma of the pandemic has brought a range of other critical issues to the forefront. While the disease itself doesn’t discriminate, unfortunately, people do. As the issue of the disease’s transmission rose to prominence, so did some worrisome reactions from both countries and individuals alike.

One deeply problematic example of this is Trump’s address in which he referred to the Coronavirus as the ‘Chinese’ virus, provoking calls for clarification and correction, but this was both too late and too little. That these xenophobic ideas have resurfaced in politics sends a dangerous message that they are not only welcomed in the political sphere, but also reveal the normalised racist sentiment in one of the most ‘developed’ countries in the world. 

Despite WHO regulations against such defamatory language, it was utilised to play on fears of the unknown and fuel racialised othering, reinforcing systematic discrimination of minorities. Just two months ago, Asians across the globe were celebrating a historic Oscar win for Parasite, heralding acceptance and better Asian representation. Now, many are too afraid to leave their homes or wear masks for hygienic precautions in fear that they will be discriminated against, abused or attacked in the cities and neighbourhoods that they themselves are citizens.

One victim of racist abuse since the pandemic; Source: BBC news

Stop Hate UK has reported a rise in calls across their helplines from victims of such behaviour, particularly those of Chinese origin, who are offensively branded as carriers of the virus. Such was the case of Jonathan Mok, who despite being from Singapore and not carrying the virus, was physically assaulted in London with his attacker stating ‘we don’t want your coronavirus in our country’. The verbal abuse perpetuated by figures in the media such as Piers Morgan who mocked Mandarin live on television, is being swept under the rug and ignored in the UK.

Unfortunately, this appears to be a small part of a much broader issue across the West. In a recent video posted online, an Asian man is harassed on an underground train in New York on his daily commute. Fearmongering and xenophobia have also started to play a more prominent role on the internet as the world is staying inside. Viral videos continue to be circulated online such as one in which a woman consumes ‘bat soup’, with thousands sharing and blaming the Chinese community for the spread of the virus, making sweeping generalisations that Chinese eating habits are barbaric. 

These xenophobic and orientalist sentiments are not slowing down. This is sadly something we have seen before; infectious disease outbreaks have historically become politicised and have incentivised discrimination against minorities. 

Asian community in America; Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer

In the early 2000’s in Toronto during the SARS outbreak, xenophobic abuse towards the Chinese Canadian community became heated, even when the community in question was doing the most to counter the spread of the virus. Such rhetoric and racist behaviour often spreads as fast as the diseases themselves. Even the seemingly most progressive factions of society, such as universities, are prone to such acts.

Ironically, despite the Western portrayal of China and its culture as backwards and archaic in nature, it is clear that Chinese and other Asian countries, such as South Korea, Singapore and Vietnam, policy and societal adherence regarding containment of the virus has worked well, compared to Western reactions to COVID-19. All are different in their backgrounds, and yet all have supported their people, infected or not, recognising that they are the victims, not the perpetrators. 

In the global West, however, COVID-19 policy responses continue to disproportionately affect people of colour and migrants — those who are predominantly in lower socioeconomic groups, have limited healthcare access, or work in precarious jobs. Those who are now called key workers were only a few months ago regarded as ‘low-skilled’ under the new British immigration policies. This is especially true in resource-poor settings, that lack forms of social protection and have a weak welfare system, such as the US. For many, self-isolation is often not possible, leading to a higher risk of viral spread, hence why Boris Johnson’s ‘herd immunity’ approach would essentially leave the most vulnerable and those in desperate need of protection at greatest risk.

LA residents wearing protective face masks; Source: Al Jazeera

The resilience of public health is inherently intersectional with other inequalities and social policy addressing these, and COVID-19 has shown us that despite the incredible efforts of healthcare professionals, our systems are failing. After harsh cuts and a vote against the increase of healthcare workers’ base pay just last year in the UK, our current system looks after neither those who need it nor those who work hard to provide such care. 

On the contrary, those ‘underdeveloped’ or ‘third world countries’ such as Cuba or Vietnam – often considered inferior to the West – have dealt with the spread effectively, prioritising people before profit. Not only did the Vietnamese government provide essentials for its citizens who were immediately quarantined upon developing any COVID-19 symptoms, but it also provided free food to those in lockdown, easing anxiety and fear for many. COVID-19 has been a harsh lesson – a reminder to all of just how vulnerable we are. It ought to compel the West to save our judgements and urges a global re-evaluation of what we deem as ‘advanced’, prosperous nations.

Julia Szczesna is a Content Writer for the Immigration Advice Service, an organisation of UK immigration lawyers which is providing free legal advice to all NHS staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BAME NHS worker’s remain in the firing line against COVID 19

Shaun Flores
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BAME NHS worker’s remain in the firing line against COVID 19
nhs deaths

The British government is being called to investigate the astonishing amount of BAME workers who are dying due to Covid-19.

NHS England has called upon health trusts to assess (BAME) workers who are “at potentially greater risk” from coronavirus. One in five of the 1.3 million NHS staff are from BAME backgrounds. The Guardian uncovered that out of 53 NHS staff who have died 68% were BAME. 22 nurses, two porters, a radiology support worker, a patient discharge planner and a hospital bus driver. There are more minority ethnic people working in the NHS 20%, rising to 44% for medical staff. As a result, the rate of mortality is seriously uneven.

Data from the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre suggests 34.5% of Covid-19 patients who are critically ill are from BAME backgrounds. Despite only 10.8% of the population is black or Asian, according to the 2011 census.

The first 10 doctors in the UK who died from coronavirus were all BAME. Dr Adil El Tayar was the first BAME worker to die from Covid-19. He was a 63-year-old Sudanese heart surgeon. He was volunteering in an A&E department in the Midlands and died on 25 March at West Middlesex University Hospital in Isleworth in West London.

On Wednesday 8th April, Bangladeshi doctor, Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, 53, died from Coronavirus. yet he had no underlying conditions. Before he died he wrote a letter to the government asking for adequate provisions of PPE to protect workers.

His son Intisar Chowdhury, 18, wrote a later to the government questioning why his father’s letter to Boris Johnson was ignored.

Son of doctor who died from Covid-19 still hoping for PPE apology ...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/28/son-of-doctor-who-died-from-covid-19-still-hoping-for-ppe-apology

Intisar Chowdhury said: “When he was unwell he wrote an open letter to the prime minister appealing for more PPE for NHS frontline workers, it was a request that was ignored, two weeks later he passed away and since then over 100 NHS and social care workers have passed away from contracting the virus,”.

The chronic lack of PPE has been a issue of hot debate and lives are being lost as a consequence of insufficient planning and prompt action.

The letter sent by the Seacole Group offering to help as independent advisory group

https://twitter.com/inzyrashid/status/1252963871134035968

17 non-executive NHS directors of the Seacole Group, the largest network of BAME leaders within the service, have written to Mr Hancock, offering their services as an independent advisory group in hopes to address the deaths of BAME health and social workers.

Coronavirus continues to entrench the instiutional racism

There has been a long-held belief that institutions are nourished by racism and Covid-19 deaths have only reinforced and further evidenced this. The death rates of workers and those admitted only reaffirm this.

Infographic showing typical PPE for health workers dealing with coronavirus patients
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-52440641

According to the Cabinet Office, (2019), black minority ethnic people are more likely to be key workers and/or work in positions where the threat of exposure is greater. Some of these positions include cleaners, public transport (including taxis), shops, and NHS staff.

Black and minority ethnic people are 40% of doctors, 20% of nurses nationally (and 50% in London). Within the NHS Black and minority ethnic people make up 17% of the social care workforce, and 59% in London.

The government have proven themselves chronically inept when dealing with the coronavirus pandemic; failing to buy crucial protective equipment, in turns affecting BAME staff who are at a far higher risk of contracting Covid-19 as they are the majority of the NHS workforce.

Cultural Reasons as to why BAME workers are more at risk

It has been said that cultural reasons are a key component resulting in COVID-19 killing more BAME workers. Covid-19 has a higher prevalence on those with underlying health issues, in particular, those suffering from obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes all more common amongst the BAME population. Further more Vitamin D deficiency is more common in people of an ethnic minority group.

In 2017 a study conducted highlighted that black adults were the most likely out of all ethnic groups to be overweight or obese. Obesity predisposes individuals to other issues such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

According to Diabetes UK , “Type 2 diabetes is up to six times more common in people of South Asian descent and up
to three times more common among people of African and African-Caribbean origin.”

Environmental factors play a part as to why underlying health issues are so prevalent in the BAME community. In black and minority ethnic groups on average poverty is twice as high. Poverty has a major correlation to obesity, access to overly processed and calorie-rich foods, resulting in poor nourishment puts the body at greater risk to health-related issues. Those with low socioeconomic status, healthier lifestyles may not always be a tangible reality, as money must be spent on other necessities such as rent. Black and minority ethnic families also tend to be larger on average, exacerbating stresses on the family and finances.

Ordinarily, a virus would not discriminate or stereotype on the basis of race or ethnicity. However, Covid 19 is massively affecting BAME NHS and front line workers. The government must do more to protect all those who protect and saves lives. Discrimination continues to seep through our institutions and rather than being a “great leveller”, the virus exposes the deep inequalities in the suffering of different communities. Focusing on genetics merely shifts blame; health inequality must be properly researched, measured and addressed. The government inquiry announced this month must publish data collected on ethnic minority deaths by Public Health England, to unravel uncomfortable truths, ensure wider understanding of the actual scale of threats BAME individuals and workers are facing and generate action.

In the destruction of COVID-19, we must protect asylum seekers

Common Sense Contributors
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In the destruction of COVID-19, we must protect asylum seekers

When a person fleeing persecution arrives in the UK, the initial emotional relief is soon cast aside by the harsh realities of the asylum process. Not only is the financial assistance offered by the government barely enough to cover food and other basics, but the housing provided is often substandard and overcrowded. Medical care can be hard to access; Hostile Environment policies mean that many asylum seekers are too afraid to seek treatment. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, this concoction of issues places a group- already deeply marginalised- in a hugely precarious and vulnerable position.

At just £37.75 per person per week, the allowance provided to asylum seekers is not enough for an adequate standard of living. A Scottish Refugee Council study found that a number of asylum seekers struggle to afford items such as clothes and toiletries. Even in normal times, the inability to afford essentials places a person in a deeply fragile position. In the midst of a global pandemic, the danger it poses is enormous with people making decisions between eating and keeping safe.

We know that a healthy diet is part of what can help fend off illnesses. The poorer our diet, the more likely we are to pick up infections. At a time when COVID-19 is growing in scale, it is all the more important that asylum seekers are given the help they need to feed themselves properly, not least to boost their first line of defence. This is exactly the time when the government should be investing in the health of the most vulnerable by increasing financial assistance to them. It could of course be counter-argued that increasing the level of support would be a detriment to the economy at a time of national crisis. However, our collective fight against Coronavirus will only work if all people receive an equal level of protection.

Queue of asylum seekers // Source: Forbes/Getty Images

Poor diet is not the only issue putting the physical health of asylum seekers at risk. Many are being forced to live in accommodation which is not fit for purpose. The government’s provision of housing is riddled with issues such as damp, mould and poor ventilation. As Coronavirus is a respiratory disease, living in these conditions places an individual at increased risk.

The government’s official COVID-19 guidance states that ‘all shared spaces should be well-ventilated’, yet much of the housing provided to asylum seekers directly contravenes this advice. An investigation by the ICIBI found that on one occasion, damp and poor ventilation had caused the ill-health of a child. With these issues in mind, flawed housing support leaves our most vulnerable brutally exposed to COVID-19 and its impact.

Some are also housed inappropriately. Young people who’ve experienced high levels of trauma are being placed with older men with alcohol and drug abuse problems. Instances of overcrowding are not uncommon. This presents particular challenges during the COVID-19 crisis as it makes social-distancing difficult, if not at times impossible. Adhering to social distancing rules is key to limiting the transmission of infection. Overcrowded housing also means that asylum seekers are unable to follow government advice.

Hospital scene // Source: Royal Cornwall NHS

Asylum support accommodation is subject to the same law and regulation in relation to overcrowding, health and safety, houses in multiple occupation as any other accommodation. The government needs to ensure the rules are upheld so that an already difficult situation is not made worse. Many are now having to rely on friends to provide a roof over their heads but this is rarely a long-term solution and makes isolating safely nearly impossible.

These concerns simply compound those faced by asylum seekers when it comes to healthcare. With the weekly subsistence rate failing to provide the essentials, the cost of prescriptions in England places vital medication out of reach. Added to this, the cost of booking an appointment over the phone, or getting to an appointment on public transport, is unaffordable to those living on £37.75 per week.

Many asylum seekers are too afraid to access healthcare due to the fear of detention or deportation. The ‘Hostile Environment’ introduced data-sharing between the NHS and Home Office, meaning that undocumented immigrants can have their details passed on to immigration enforcement. Whilst the government have said that COVID-19 treatment will not necessitate revealing one’s immigration status, this information needs to be communicated effectively to those seeking asylum. Although some may argue that free healthcare should be reserved for British citizens, this would leave considerable numbers of people exposed to COVID-19 at a time when everything must be done to limit the spread of infection. 

UK Border sign // Source: WSJ

All this comes during a Coronavirus crisis when keeping healthy could not be more important. Better and more easily available language support would help. There are also calls for healthcare staff to have better training and for the Home Office to ensure people get the right information, particularly about their entitlements. There’s a need for change at the policy and legislation level so that access to healthcare is protected by clear separation from immigration enforcement.

The Coronavirus pandemic may have made us sit up and think, but it has not in any way been a leveller in society. At least not yet. What it has done is put additional strain on those like asylum seekers who were already some of the most vulnerable amongst us. Home Secretary Priti Patel will finally appear before a select committee this week, after a long period of noticeable absence. It is of paramount importance to take this chance to ensure asylum seekers are protected.

Peter Markham is a content writer for the Immigration Advice Service, an organisation of immigration lawyers.

Want to see art not ads? You’re In Good Company

Rachel Trafford
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Want to see art not ads? You’re In Good Company

What do you miss most about being outside? Maybe just meandering on the streets, rather than only being let out to shop. Being in our public spaces is the ultimate privilege, and for now, one we cannot claim. Just as goats overtook Llandudno, art and creativity have also crept in through the cracks in the brick work in our absence.

Mural reads “By fighting the epidemic, we protect the human being and preserve the earth” in the Gaza Strip // Source: theguardian.com Photgraph: Mohammed Abed

Messages etched in chalk on pavements to murals painted on boarded up store fronts have brought art to us through our screens; ‘wish you were here’ postcards from the outside world. In Leeds, curated street art project In Good Company has worked to diversify the city’s streets and in lockdown has taken over prime advertising space. Founded in June 2019 by British designer Laura Wellington, In Good Company has brought art and colour to the cities buildings. By working with property developers, local businesses and international artists Laura and partner James have created large scale works on Graphical House, with artist Mr Penfold and on a 100 year old narrow boat with Benjamin Craven and Jenny Beard.

Graphical House, Leeds // Source: kingandcoleeds.com

Lockdown has given their mission an entirely new iteration. A conversation with another independent business owner Tom of We Are FYI, an advertising company for the entertainment and hospitality industries, combined with their ownership of huge billboards on Hyde Park corner, a densely populated area of Leeds, Laura decided there was no better place for a thank you for key workers.

After approaching award winning artist Morag Myerscough, four billboards and a huge colourful sign shouting a message of gratitude to those on the frontline were turned around in just 72 hours. Inspired by the outpouring of support for the NHS, they are designed to include everyone. “There are a lot of people that have to keep going to work everyday and have no choice but to put themselves at risk. I set out to say thank you to everyone through art and colour”.

Morag Myerscough Thank You billboards in Hyde Park, Leeds // Credit: In Good Company

“The response initially was phenomenal and lots of people were asking how do they bring it to their city.” After spending a week pitching the idea to national billboard companies and garnering no support, the project took on a city centric approach to get the message out. “Posters for the People became a people powered approach to get the posters all over the world. It came out of adversity and I’ve enjoyed watching it grow through people.” The posters are available online for anyone to purchase, print and put up in their locality already reaching around the UK, Italy and the US.

By then partnering with Pop Art Media, who’s outside advertising is contracted by Leeds City Council, the campaign took over 150 poster sites in the city with art work from seven independent creators.

Posters for the People takeover campaign on billboards in Leeds // Credit: In Good Company
Posters for the People banners on peoples homes // Credit: In Good Company

Where art belongs, seen but not heard in frames, private collections and galleries, has been relatively fixed, in comparison to advertising’s growth. For some, art in all its forms is the most freeing form of expression. For others it can be exclusive and exclusionary. In 2018, a BBC survey of 40% of UK secondary schools found that nine in every ten had cut back on staff time and resources for at least one creative arts subject due to funding pressures. It isn’t surprising then that by the time many young people enter adulthood, art can be characterised as a luxury not everyone can afford. Though young people and adults may come to encounter art later in life with free or subsidised admittance to some galleries and cultural venues, feeling like you don’t belong in a space is just as powerful a barrier as other inaccessibility practicalities.

A 2015 Warwick report showed that attendees to art galleries were overwhelmingly white and middle class. Additionally, a government survey from last year of over 8,000 people showed only 33% of black people and 43% of Asian people had even visited a gallery. This is not to say art galleries are systemically racist, but that evidently more must be done to reach certain communities.

Posters for the People banners, Leeds // Credit: In Good Company

Art being outside has generally been understood as rebellion. Graffiti became synonymised with vandalism, with the use of tags on buildings demonstrating a visual fight to reclaim urban spaces. Banksy began turning the tide in the early 2000’s, creating beautifully subversive street art and social commentary with huge public appeal. People loved Banksy not because he was necessarily the best or the first, but because his work could be anywhere and by anyone, but most importantly, carried accessible and relatable visual messaging. Despite our cities being full of surfaces, art was vilified or squeezed onto street corners. The movement of full wall murals has only continued to grow ever since.

Advertising outdoors however has been completely ubiquitous with our environments for decades. When Laura approached Clear Channel, who own huge billboards all over Leeds, “they decided the billboards could not be used”. Even just the Leeds council website boasts opportunities to reach over 300,000 people a year. It seems no place is out of advertising’s reach, with “lampposts, recycling centres and green spaces such as flower beds” all up for grabs. If every surface is encouraging you to buy, is it any wonder we are overconsuming? There are also multiple studies, that more materialistic values are an indicator for lower levels of wellbeing. We feel worse about ourselves after constant exposure to consumer goods.

Outdoor advertising // Source: medium.com

Advertising is not simply bad or evil. It’s a powerful informative medium to make you think, laugh and cry. In a four week campaign this February, Clear Channel created a campaign on digital ad boards across Leeds City Centre showing health warnings when temperatures dropped below 8 degrees. With over £260m cuts in funding in 10 years, it also brings a vital income stream to Leeds City Council. But this treats citizens, and in turn our city spaces as one-dimensional, powerful only through consumption. In Good Company’s work taking over sides of buildings and now huge billboards with curated art works asserts a bold right to public space. Involving developers and commercial interests in this movement shows tentative steps in an exciting direction towards art and creativity having a central role in the outside every-day.

Bringing art into the public goes back to its roots as a communication tool, whether as a portrait of a monarch, a graphic illustration or a huge message of thanks. “Graphic design and posters have played a key part in history and key messages, from Keep Calm and Carry on to female liberation in the 70s”. The poster and the protest sign as artforms, as shown by In Good Company’s people powered movement, is an example of accessible art that everyone can claim a piece of ownership within. Rather than being talked to by ads, we can talk to each other even when apart.

Creating an ArtNotAds movement could be the next step. It seems a bit of a ridiculous idea doesn’t it? With personalised Ad technology everywhere, billboards and posters might feel like a drop in the ocean. In 2007, then Mayor Gilberto Kassab of Sao Paulo, Brazil, enacted the Clean City Law removing all 15,000 billboards from the city, which continues to this day. Similarly, in 2015, the city of Tehran, Iran, replaced all advertisements with art on 1,500 billboards for 10 days.

Billboard in Tehran replaced with art // Photograph credit: Hamed Khorshidi

Either way, In Good Company’s project asks bold and colourful questions about not only access to art, but citizens rights to our public spaces, and shaping environments to serve public interests in our post-lockdown future.

 And what of that future? Take comfort in Laura’s words: “we must disrupt, and go our own way.”

Support the Posters for the People campaign and independent creatives during lockdown and beyond here

NHS front line experiences; the key worker highs and lows

Courtney Carr
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NHS front line experiences; the key worker highs and lows

The UK’s NHS staff are tasked with facing coronavirus on a daily basis. They have struggled with challenges such as the need and lack of PPE (personal protective equipment) in some cases, as well as risking their lives everyday. We here at TCS Network decided to speak with staff on the front line to find out how they are coping with the challenge.

COVID-19 has become a frightening and incomparable experience for the world – over 21,000 people have died in the UK alone. How does it feel to face something that most, understandably, want to hide from?

Martelle Henry is a nurse with a background in infectious diseases and respiratory infections. She now provides clinical and educational support in the High Dependency Respiratory Unit.

She said: “I don’t think that anything could have prepared me for the severity of illness in some cases, frequency of death or the joy experienced when a patient defies the odds and begins to turn around for the better.

Martelle Henry – a specialist nurse in PPE. Source: Martelle Henry via Facebook


There’s a real sense of peace (for me anyway!) and collegiality between all specialities, all job roles, all people. I’ve spent 12+ hours working alongside amazing, selfless staff, only identifiable by their eyes and name/role written on their gowns.”

The specialist unit that Martelle works on did not exist before COVID- 19, and she is proud to say that it puts patient and staff safety first; all staff in any patient-facing areas must wear PPE, regardless of whether they work in designated COVID- 19 areas or not. This is an essential preventative and protective policy, ensuring that the health of those caring for the ill and vulnerable are valued as well.

Martelle told TCS Network: “It’s during the saddest times that teamwork and collegiality has made all the difference. For example, we took it in turns to hold the phone to facilitate a video call between a patient and their children and grandchildren, who were able to say how much they love and appreciate their relative – as they were taking their last breath.”

Another key worker we spoke to, Naomi Coleman, has been a qualified midwife for seven years.

“Fortunately, we haven’t had any ladies who are seriously ill with the coronavirus, but it has changed the way that we practice. It can become a little bit impersonal – it’s a career where we are used to touching a lot but now we are having to find other ways to comfort women.”

Naomi’s daily activities have not changed per se, but she has been feeling the impact of social distancing within her work. I asked her how she felt in terms of being physically protected whilst serving the public.

She said: “We have protection – is it adequate? We don’t think so. A lot of staff are getting sores on their face from wearing masks all the time. There’s not enough money to pay for the proper equipment that we need – that’s what it boils down to. It’s not cheap, and the industry knows that, and they’ve given us protection to the best of their ability.

We’ve had a few staff members that have contracted this nasty virus – members of staff have passed away. Everyone has reacted differently to the situation at hand – I personally don’t feel completely uneasy due to my personal faith, but it is scary. As a team we make videos to uplift ourselves – to the outside world it can look like that’s all we do, as if we are not caring for the patients, but that’s not true. When we have a laugh, it releases the stress that’s on our shoulders and brings us together as a unit.”

Ventilator tubes. Source: Flickr

Some healthcare students are practicing in medical environments during the pandemic – Grace’Anne Coleman is one of them – a student and aspiring community nurse.

She told TCS Network of her emotional highs and lows.

“In terms of working on the front line, I have had the experience of seeing people when they’re first admitted and discharged, but on the other hand, seeing people towards the end of their lives.

It’s quite an emotional experience to watch someone die without having their family with them. Often, the purpose of us caring for someone at the end of their life is to make sure that they have that full holistic care – family is often a part of that. It’s been a strange way to allow someone to die peacefully, but yet, there’s been a lack of peace. They can’t breathe.

There’s almost a vacant, awkardness within the hospital- there’s a lot going on and it’s difficult to learn and absorb as a student. We’re right down in the deep end and you want to help, but you don’t always know what to do sometimes.”

These are simply a glimpse into the everyday battle that NHS staff face, and they are doing a phenomenal job in light of their resources. COVID- 19 has taken many lives, but with professionals fighting for the public, a victory of some sort is certain.

The Façade of Philanthropy: saviour or self-seeker?

Benedicta Denteh
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The Façade of Philanthropy: saviour or self-seeker?

Money. It’s what makes the world go round. It sustains most of our livelihoods, even influences our social connections. Some people are constantly short of it and others possess it in such abundance that they could just about buy anything and everything they wanted.

But what if rather than choosing to invest and multiply their wealth, the rich advocated for redistribution? What if perhaps some of the world’s renowned millionaires and billionaires decided to spread some of this wealth, and put some of those millions to good use, to help those who are needy?

Well some do in fact many take on this civic duty, but behind this charitable frontier often exists an ulterior motive, where philanthropy is often another opportunity for business expansion. With this then, is it possible that those who take out charitable ventures do more harm than good?

What is Big Philanthropy?

Jeff Bezoz, founder of Amazon holding up money (Source: MarketWatch)

Big Philanthropy, describes the act of bestowing colossal sums of money to worthy causes and charities. Charity has existed from time immemorial, and even makes up a fundamental part of many of the oldest religions, such as Islam which sees charity one of the 5 pillars of the religion. Big Philanthropy is a new phenomenon, which has materialised alongside the growth of the number millionaires and billionaires in the world.

Examples of big philanthropists in the modern era include Amazon founder and world’s richest man Jeff Bezos, who contributed $10 million toward climate change prevention and Bill Gates and his wife Melinda committing $36 billion overall to their Foundation which focuses on supporting healthcare in the developing world. Whilst there may be some good in this, because these contributions do in fact lighten the hardships of those they seek to help, the deeper consequences of one person having this much power to change millions of lives, must be considered. Ideology and practice are inseparable, and whilst charity may be framed as a politically neutral, it is never that simple.

Following the outbreak and spread of COVID-19 a few of the world’s billionaires have been attempting to financially support the outbreak. Jack Dorsey is among the most generous who has contributed $1 billion to an LLC to support COVID-19 whilst the Gates have again have stepped to contribute $255 million towards finding treatments and diagnostics testing.

The dark side of charity

There is a suggestion that exists, popularly birthed by a political theorist at Stanford University Rob Reich, who puts forward that these ‘donations’ from the rich are actually an “exercise of power” and that is to move private assets for appraisal, public influence and sometimes money gain all whilst pulling the wool over the eyes of the pubic. Therefore, big philanthropy is essentially smoke and mirrors, trying to hide a bigger plot to obtain more power and money.

Rob Reich a public theorist side to side with cover of his book (Source: Stanford University Master of Liberal Arts)

Big contributors sometimes use these donations as a way to evade paying taxes, as tax regulations differ on sums invested under a charity or foundation. They also have the power to criticise governments on how they organise society, but by stepping in and becoming the hero, using philanthropy as a tool to cover their more selfish actions – tax evasion being a common issue.

On the other hand, there has been an ulterior motive at hand, and some have been undermining this dire and deadly situation as an opportunity to help support their own companies.

Richard Branson owns Virgin Healthcare Group, which has around 400 contracts across England, and treats around one million people. They are among one of the big winners from NHS privatisation, with profits of £290 million in 2019. A regular big philanthropist but someone who has also been labelled a parasite on the NHS; he has evaded taxes on £2 billion worth of taxes as well as sueing the NHS for not being awarded a £83 million private contract. Despite this, he has sought donations to apparently support the NHS, using a ‘Run 5 Donate 5 Tag 5 challenge’ which has gone viral in the past couple of weeks.

Group protesting against Virgin’s expansion into the healthcare sector at the expense of the NHS (Source: The Guardian)

Through his Virgin Giving platform he takes a profit cut from the kind donations from those trying to help support the key workers relentlessly working to care for the ill and vulnerable. It would be much more commendable for Branson to pay his due taxes; that is if he genuinely cared and wasn’t doing this to exploit the general public’s kindness.

A double edged sword

Forbes has currently tracked out of the 77 billionaires that donate money, 23 did not disclose where the money actually goes. So when it comes to Virgin Giving, how do we even know all of it is being channelled into healthcare? And even if it is, it directly takes a cut from resources that the NHS could use. Surely it would be better for there to be one centralised and regulated body to combat and fund social issues? But it would seem that the social inequalities that deepen under globalisation are at the mercy of those same wealthiest individuals who call themselves philanthropists.

COVID-19: the pandemic stopping students in their tracks

Courtney Carr
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COVID-19: the pandemic stopping students in their tracks

COVID- 19 has resulted in many sudden changes to the way that we live, in the UK and around the world. Many university students have had their studies disrupted and moved online. Whilst many have spoken out on social media, we here at TCS Network believe that it is important to consider individual experiences and use our platform to voice those who otherwise might not be heard. (Please note that some have chosen to remain anonymous or anonymise some details).

The UK is currently in a lockdown ordered by the Government, which was put in place on March 24th 2020. This lockdown ensures restricted movement – instructing people that they are not allowed to leave their home without a “reasonable excuse.” This was life-changing in some cases for students studying in the UK – but what about British students abroad?

Benni is a student at the University of Manchester, studying BA Arabic and French. She told us at TCS about her experience of being stuck in Jordan.

“It did seem as if a lot of people wouldn’t be covered to come back home if they didn’t have a flight already in place; there was no way that the university was going to insure you.

Some people had to take 24-hourly trips all around the world just to get back. Our university was literally just saying, ‘do what you want.’ You do want direction in a situation where you don’t know what to do! We were going to this language institute with people from Cambridge, people from Exeter – who all got flown home, because their universities were like, ‘come home now!'”

Benni was able to find a way back home due to her sister, who looked on the Foreign and Commonwealth office’s website and found her a way to come home.

She said: “I was lucky to be able to come home because of my mother’s insurance, but without that – I would still be there.”

This is just one of many stories of British students and citizens alike, stranded in different countries. Although we are in unprecedented times, students should not be left in the lurch, especially as our universities have a duty of care.

Student in the Library; Source: University of Sussex

Samara has a story that is closer to home. She attends the University of East London, studying Media and Advertising, and is in her first year.

She said: “My course was moved online on 16th March but they have cancelled any further assignments. The university has kept in contact to a great extent – a lot of our projects are carried out online, so the university gave access to online resources that are usually costly.

However, I believe that my fees should be reduced as I have only completed one term and online lectures have not always been consistent – sometimes, they are replaced with 15-minute catch ups.”

The University of East London has described itself as taking a “key role in supporting the NHS”, by offering accommodation and other means of support to healthcare workers at the NHS Nightingale hospital.

The new NHS Nightingale Hospital in London; Source: www.armorgard.co.uk

Mojoyin Olarinde is at Aston University, studying Politics with International Relations as an Undergraduate.

She said: “I appreciate the university’s effort to stay in touch with students. However, this is only effective if we are receiving new or relevant information. To have the same thing said multiple times in the course of 6 or 7 emails can feel overwhelming.”

 Charlotte is studying for her MSc in Digital Marketing in Scotland. Her education moved online “very quickly,” with half of her teaching hours being online by mid March.

She told TCS Network: “I think this was influenced by the fact that our university had one of the first confirmed cases in Scotland.

My course teaching staff have been brilliant at keeping in touch with us, we’ve been having extra sessions on Google Hangouts on top of our classes and they’ve been easily contactable via email/social media throughout. You can tell they’re really under pressure though, and they’re being worked to the bone trying to support everyone.

The university itself have been communicating via email but they’ve been quite vague and unclear in their stance a lot of the time, and only started clarifying when put under pressure via petitions and the like.

However, it’s been great to see that the university have set up additional hardship funds for students in need, including those who aren’t eligible for the support from Scottish finance.”

The prestigious Oxford University; Source: Google Images

Educational institutions are incredibly stretched in formulating a response to the global pandemic, but students cannot be forgotten in the race back to normality. Universities have always been a pillar of a modern and democratic society and our universities are institutions we take great pride in, in the UK. These are the institutions that have trained so many of those same key workers that we see working daily, in order to keep society functioning.

In fact, a team within the Jenner Institute and Oxford Vaccine Group at Oxford University have set out to create a vaccine against coronavirus and are beginning human trials; funded by the UK government. This shows the vital importance of higher education, research and the brilliant minds that are formed because of it. Whilst attending to students’ very real needs may be difficult for universities to do at the moment, it must be one of their priorities.

Are Africans in China victims of racism?

Shaun Flores
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Are Africans in China victims of racism?

Africans living in China are being kicked out of their homes, refused entry to restaurants, supermarkets and even public transport under the new lockdown rules by the Chinese government to stop coronavirus.

Lockdown in the southern city of Guangzhou known as “Little Africa” began in early April. Certain parts of the city were under lockdown after two Nigerians tested positive for the virus, but they had escaped. According, to reporting by the BBC, widespread enforced testing of African nationals by the health commission began.

The local authority said that every African national in the city was tested for coronavirus. According to their figures, only 111 African nationals tested positive in the city out of over 4,500. While there are no definite figures, it is estimated over 15,000 African nationals live there, by far the largest population of Africans in the entire country. It seems people of the city were convinced Africans were responsible for the spread of the disease.

Citizen TV Kenya tweeted on April 9th 2020:

“Cruelty In China: Kenyans among Africans ejected from homes in Beijing
Africans are denied access to supermarkets, public transport
Kenyans affected have been forced to sleep in the cold.”

The racial tensions grew worse as a video circulated Twitter where a sign in a McDonalds read “We’ve been informed that from now on black people are not allowed to enter the restaurant. For the sake of your health consciously notify the local police for medical isolation. Please understand the inconvenience caused.”

A few days later after the video hit the internet, McDonald’s responded via a statement that the sign is “not representative of our inclusive values” and was removed and the restaurant has since been shut down, to “educate our staff” on said values.

This was evidently discriminatory and has exacerbated some racial tensions that predate the COVID-19 outbreak, with some African nationals decrying an unfair crackdown on visa regulations.

Let us test the vaccine on Africans

The same attitude has been present in other countries too. On French TV channel LCI, two doctors suggested using Africa as an experimenting ground to see if a tuberculosis vaccine could prove effective against coronavirus.

Jean-Paul Mira, head of intensive care at Cochin hospital in Paris, and Camille Locht, head of research at the Inserm health research group, suggested testing out COVID-19 vaccines in African countries.

The Doctors said that as Africa has ‘no masks, no treatments and no resuscitation’ for people suffering from the virus that meant ‘people were highly exposed and that they do not protect themselves. Like for some of the studies on Aids, in prostitutes, we try things because we know that they are highly exposed and that they do not protect themselves.’

Famous ex-footballers such as Didier Drogba tweeted their disgust at the suggestion.

Africans have been subjected to experiments by Europeans in the past.

J Marion Sims, otherwise known as the father of modern gynaecology, conducted up to 30 experiments on female slaves between the years of 1845 and 1849 without consent. Sims felt the surgery was, “not painful enough to justify the trouble,” he stated in an 1857 lecture, despite the operations being done without anaesthesia. 

John Quier, a British doctor that worked in rural Jamaica, experimented on slaves in attempts to cure smallpox. His London colleagues wondered whether smallpox experiments done on “Negro women” were valid for English women, who were “women of fashion, and of delicate constitutions.” Treatments appropriate for enslaved women, they warned, might well destroy ladies of “delicate habits, …educated in European luxury.”

Fear causing division?

The current racial discrimination shown in China shows us that despite the strong economic connections between the two countries, the blame can be shifted in times of fear, when previously the black community stood in solidarity against the racist attacks many Asians have faced. There has been relative quiet on these events, with only a couple of news outlets reporting on them, compared to the outcry when coronavirus was called the “Chinese flu” by President Trump. There has however been widespread outcry across social media. Racism never disappears but adapts to new circumstances when old strains rise from the dark vaults of American history. The recent rise carries the stench of late-19th-century racism from Chinese to now African, best demonstrated via Mc Donalds.

Racism is not acceptable, though of course an overreaction by uneducated staff in Mcdonalds should never tarnish all Chinese people with the same brush. Chinese diplomats and delegates have met with officials from several African countries to hear their “legitimate appeals”, said the Chinese foreign ministry. Lijan Zhou, their spokesman, stated there had been “misunderstandings in our implementation of measures” and that the government would take “immediate steps to stop the targeting and ill-treatment of Africans” in an April 13th statement. With such powerful economic and social ties between Africa and China, and with China on the defensive against criticisms of it’s reporting of the outbreak, they will certainly be looking to quickly close up wedges the pandemic has driven between the two nations.

Is Rihanna in a durag more than a fashion statement?

Shaun Flores
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Is Rihanna in a durag more than a fashion statement?

In March this year, Rihanna made British Vogue history wearing the ‘durag’, the first cover star to ever wear the garment. Editor Edward Enninful describes it as a “potent symbol of black life” that is “rarely viewed through the prism of high fashion”.

In 2014 Rihanna wore a Swarovski crystal-encrusted durag to match her Adam Selman dress to accept the CFDA Fashion Icon award.

Rihanna makes British Vogue history wearing durag on cover | The ...
Source: https://fashionsizzle.com/tag/rihanna/

The fashion world has been set alight as the durag, a common everyday item in the black community, has become a symbol on the world stage. Durags have historically been used by black women as catalysts to shake up the social discourse.

Source: https://www.instyle.com/news/rihannas-cfda-awards-gown-featured-more-216000-swarovski-crystals

Rihanna is not only wearing a durag; it’s a worldwide fashion icon wearing what the black community in the 21st century take for granted. That simple outfit highlights just how black culture is and forever will be a fashion statement, despite systemic practices that continue to marginalize many people of colour from the fashion industry.

History of the Durag

When the durag was first birthed, it was not about choice or functionality, It has become a symbol of black culture when originally it was enforced as method to suppress black women’s beauty and signify their inferior status as labourers.

The headwraps had the practical purpose of absorbing sweat and protecting scalps from the scathing daytime sun.

With the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s, the durag evolved to tightly hold chemically processed hair-dos in place while sleeping. Most commonly made from women’s stockings (called stocking caps) now, many are made from polyester or silk. Now typically they usually have long ties on either side that are wrapped around the head to secure its placement.

Facts About Africa on Twitter: "Scarves worn by black women during ...
Harriet Tubman // Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Tubman

The durag alongside the rest of black haircare has evolved in the 20th century into a cultural touchstone and a symbol of reclaiming identity and self-expression that was denied throughout the 19th century.

As it’s continually policed by respectability politics and workplaces refusing to have ‘black hairstyles’, Rihanna’s durag appearance on British vogue is made all the more political.

Racialised clothing: the ‘hoodie‘

Rihanna best represents the female who refuses to be tamed and will not be confined or shackled to a colonial world. She has championed female sexuality and professional success, over the harmful stereotype of over-sexualisation especially of women of colour for centuries.

In 2019 Cephas Williams created the 56 Black men entitled “I AM NOT MY STEREOTYPE”, with headshots of black men in hoodies. The 56 black men he photographed were in top positions from entrepreneurs, directors, teachers and even journalists.

Source: https://www.56blackmen.com/

The durag is a ‘racialised’ item similar to a hoodie. A black man in a hoodie is synonymous with “threats, crime and disorder”, just as the durag was once connected so closely with hip-hop and gangster lifestyles in pop culture. Clothes become powerfully aligned with skin colour.

Some will view the durag in a positive manner, a thing of beauty Rihanna has exposed to the world on a Vogue cover. The magazine epitomizes the journey the fashion world has been on to try to make people of colour visible in the industry. She is a black woman reclaiming the durag head wrap, with the cover calling her a “rebel” that “rewrites the rules” for doing so.

No doubt, a figurehead with her global legacy and reputation championing this item of such cultural significance is an empowering signal. For years Rihanna has been arguably one of the greatest and well loved women of colour in the pop music scene. However, the use of it for Vogue’s audience may not reach those who may have been criminalised, profiled and stereotyped because of it and only with wider exposure will we see whether it will reduce it. It’s use almost as a prop to create an aesthetic seems to only entrench this issue.

It isn’t Rihanna’s place to explain the cultural and social significance of the durag. No one should carry that weight unfairly on their shoulders. However the tokenistic use and “exoticisation” of people of colour within the fashion industry and the media is a continuing problem to be aware of. Representing and appreciating cultures through fashion and design should absolutely be done, as a way to fully understand them and the people within them. Before it joins a list of items as another ‘banal consumable’, hopefully it’s beauty can be appreciated as part of the whole experience of blackness.

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