今早為Asian Medical Students Association Hong Kong (AMSAHK)的新一屆執行委員會就職典禮作致詞分享嘉賓，題目為「疫情中的健康不公平」。
感謝他們的熱情款待以及為整段致詞拍了影片。以下我附上致詞的英文原稿：

It's been my honor to be invited to give the closing remarks for the Inauguration Ceremony for the incoming executive committee of the Asian Medical Students' Association Hong Kong (AMSAHK) this morning. A video has been taken for the remarks I made regarding health inequalities during the COVID-19 pandemic (big thanks to the student who withstood the soreness of her arm for holding the camera up for 15 minutes straight), and here's the transcript of the main body of the speech that goes with this video:

//The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, continues to be rampant around the world since early 2020, resulting in more than 55 million cases and 1.3 million deaths worldwide as of today. (So no! It’s not a hoax for those conspiracy theorists out there!) A higher rate of incidence and deaths, as well as worse health-related quality of life have been widely observed in the socially disadvantaged groups, including people of lower socioeconomic position, older persons, migrants, ethnic minority and communities of color, etc. While epidemiologists and scientists around the world are dedicated in gathering scientific evidence on the specific causes and determinants of the health inequalities observed in different countries and regions, we can apply the Social Determinants of Health Conceptual Framework developed by the World Health Organization team led by the eminent Prof Sir Michael Marmot, world’s leading social epidemiologist, to understand and delineate these social determinants of health inequalities related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to this framework, social determinants of health can be largely categorized into two types – 1) the lower stream, intermediary determinants, and 2) the upper stream, structural and macro-environmental determinants. For the COVID-19 pandemic, we realized that the lower stream factors may include material circumstances, such as people’s living and working conditions. For instance, the nature of the occupations of these people of lower socioeconomic position tends to require them to travel outside to work, i.e., they cannot work from home, which is a luxury for people who can afford to do it. This lack of choice in the location of occupation may expose them to greater risk of infection through more transportation and interactions with strangers. We have also seen infection clusters among crowded places like elderly homes, public housing estates, and boarding houses for foreign domestic helpers. Moreover, these socially disadvantaged people tend to have lower financial and social capital – it can be observed that they were more likely to be deprived of personal protective equipment like face masks and hand sanitizers, especially during the earlier days of the pandemic. On the other hand, the upper stream, structural determinants of health may include policies related to public health, education, macroeconomics, social protection and welfare, as well as our governance… and last, but not least, our culture and values. If the socioeconomic and political contexts are not favorable to the socially disadvantaged, their health and well-being will be disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Therefore, if we, as a society, espouse to address and reduce the problem of health inequalities, social determinants of health cannot be overlooked in devising and designing any public health-related strategies, measures and policies.

Although a higher rate of incidence and deaths have been widely observed in the socially disadvantaged groups, especially in countries with severe COVID-19 outbreaks, this phenomenon seems to be less discussed and less covered by media in Hong Kong, where the disease incidence is relatively low when compared with other countries around the world. Before the resurgence of local cases in early July, local spread of COVID-19 was sporadic and most cases were imported. In the earlier days of the pandemic, most cases were primarily imported by travelers and return-students studying overseas, leading to a minor surge between mid-March and mid-April of 874 new cases. Most of these cases during Spring were people who could afford to travel and study abroad, and thus tended to be more well-off. Therefore, some would say the expected social gradient in health impact did not seem to exist in Hong Kong, but may I remind you that, it is only the case when we focus on COVID-19-specific incidence and mortality alone. But can we really deduce from this that COVID-19-related health inequality does not exist in Hong Kong? According to the Social Determinants of Health Framework mentioned earlier, the obvious answer is “No, of course not.” And here’s why…

In addition to the direct disease burden, the COVID-19 outbreak and its associated containment measures (such as economic lockdown, mandatory social distancing, and change of work arrangements) could have unequal wider socioeconomic impacts on the general population, especially in regions with pervasive existing social inequalities. Given the limited resources and capacity of the socioeconomically disadvantaged to respond to emergency and adverse events, their general health and well-being are likely to be unduly and inordinately affected by the abrupt changes in their daily economic and social conditions, like job loss and insecurity, brought about by the COVID-19 outbreak and the corresponding containment and mitigation measures of which the main purpose was supposedly disease prevention and health protection at the first place. As such, focusing only on COVID-19 incidence or mortality as the outcomes of concern to address health inequalities may leave out important aspects of life that contributes significantly to people’s health. Recently, my research team and I collaborated with Sir Michael Marmot in a Hong Kong study, and found that the poor people in Hong Kong fared worse in every aspects of life than their richer counterparts in terms of economic activity, personal protective equipment, personal hygiene practice, as well as well-being and health after the COVID-19 outbreak. We also found that part of the observed health inequality can be attributed to the pandemic and its related containment measures via people’s concerns over their own and their families’ livelihood and economic activity. In other words, health inequalities were contributed by the pandemic even in a city where incidence is relatively low through other social determinants of health that directly concerned the livelihood and economic activity of the people. So in this study, we confirmed that focusing only on the incident and death cases as the outcomes of concern to address health inequalities is like a story half-told, and would severely truncate and distort the reality.

Truth be told, health inequality does not only appear after the pandemic outbreak of COVID-19, it is a pre-existing condition in countries and regions around the world, including Hong Kong. My research over the years have consistently shown that people in lower socioeconomic position tend to have worse physical and mental health status. Nevertheless, precisely because health inequality is nothing new, there are always voices in our society trying to dismiss the problem, arguing that it is only natural to have wealth inequality in any capitalistic society. However, in reckoning with health inequalities, we need to go beyond just figuring out the disparities or differences in health status between the poor and the rich, and we need to raise an ethically relevant question: are these inequalities, disparities and differences remediable? Can they be fixed? Can we do something about them? If they are remediable, and we can do something about them but we haven’t, then we’d say these inequalities are ultimately unjust and unfair. In other words, a society that prides itself in pursuing justice must, and I say must, strive to address and reduce these unfair health inequalities. Borrowing the words from famed sociologist Judith Butler, “the virus alone does not discriminate,” but “social and economic inequality will make sure that it does.” With COVID-19, we learn that it is not only the individuals who are sick, but our society. And it’s time we do something about it.

Thank you very much!//

Please join me in congratulating the incoming executive committee of AMSAHK and giving them the best wishes for their future endeavor!

Roger Chung, PhD
Assistant Professor, CUHK JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, @CUHK Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong 香港中文大學 - CUHK
Associate Director, CUHK Institute of Health Equity

🦠 COVID-19 Crash Course 全民防疫課🦠

陳建仁 Chen Chien-Jen 副總統的全民防疫課有英文版了～～～
歡迎大家分享給所有外國的朋友🙌🏻


This is a clear and comprehensive crash course with all you need to know about COVID-19!!! (100% recommended👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻)
The course is conducted by Taiwan Vice President, Chen Chien-Jen, who is also a well-known epidemiologist and public health expert.


——
💡What can you learn from this video?

This video will give you a better understanding of the information you see about the coronavirus on the news.You will be able to differentiate between real and fake news, share accurate information with those around you, and keep yourself and others safe from the virus. In the face of COVID-19, we should be vigilant, but we shouldn’t be afraid. By sharing accurate information and concepts, you’re playing an integral role in the world’s fight against the coronavirus!
(written by Hahow)

Please share this video!!! 🎥🎥🎥


——
感謝 Hahow 好學校 的邀請，讓我們一起來學習簡單好懂但全面的防疫知識！

母親節全家團聚之時，一起來學防疫！

當社會多數人都能接觸到正確防疫知識時，我們就會更有力量可以面對病毒，也能防止假新聞、錯誤資訊所帶來的恐慌❤️

同時也可以透過防疫課，讓全世界一起不再恐慌，並且了解 #TaiwanCanHelp and #TaiwanIsHelping ！！！


中文版全民防疫課👉🏻https://bit.ly/350XzUR
Vivi的防疫課筆記👉🏻https://vocus.cc/vivisid/5ea172d3fd897800014f3f68

「世界衛生組織 (WHO) 對於國際武漢肺炎的統計表，只列出各國發生數和死亡數，而未考慮各國的人口數，因此在評估各國發病的風險時，就會產生偏差。」

我們大仁哥點出 #WHO 未能深入瞭解
各國的病毒檢驗政策是否已經改變
就作出 #中國武漢肺炎 的致死率
有上升趨勢的草率警訊⁉️

「不僅未足以讓世人提高警覺，反而引起不必要的恐慌憂慮！」🤬

想知道副總統另外還說了哪八字強而有力的評論嗎？趕快點開內文來找關鍵字囉 👇

陳建仁副總統《武漢肺炎發生率與致死率的國際比較》中文全文 https://bit.ly/2UmKjFx

#正向防疫 #讓專業的來
#聽說今天又再新增境外移入案例
#大家真的先忍忍別再出國
#雨過天晴玩起來更寬心 🌞
#台灣加油 💪

Move aside for the professionals! Given the confusing statements made by the WHO on the rising death rate of the #COVID19 #WuhanCoronavirus, it’s time for Taiwan's Vice-President Chen Chien-jen, an epidemiologist by training and formerly vice president of #AcademiaSinica, to break it down for us and put all these numbers in context!
#TaiwanCanHelp #SDG3 #Health #Wellbeing #DontPanic #WashYourHands