海角大神

A high-powered campaign aimed at undermining the prospects for U.S.-Iran diplomacy may do little聽more than complicate President-elect Biden鈥檚 path.

2060 is a long way off. Will countries fulfill their recent pledges to go carbon neutral, or even climate neutral? Time will tell. But one thing is certain: Global climate efforts need China on board.

Concerns about intolerance in India have been mounting for years. But in the face of fear and prejudice, some interfaith couples are speaking up to celebrate their love and try to smooth the path ahead for others.

For work colleges, where students are partially responsible for maintaining campus operations, the pandemic has posed unique challenges. It has also reinforced the importance of everyone pitching in. 聽

Our new #TeamUp column will cover racial equity, foreign policy, the arts, and more. It kicks off exploring what it鈥檚 like to be the only one of your race and/or gender in the room 鈥� a position our Emmy Award-winning columnist knows all too well.

In a high note for medical history, Margaret Keenan in the United Kingdom became the first person in the world (outside of a clinical trial) to receive the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech on Dec. 8. For many health professionals, however, she was just as important for another reason 鈥� her mental attitude.

鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing to be afraid of,鈥� she told the BBC. 鈥淚鈥檓 over 90 years old, and I had no doubt.鈥�

Ever since the devastating 2014-16聽Ebola聽outbreak in West Africa, global health experts have put a new focus on ways to alleviate聽public fear聽and mistrust of both vaccines and the health care establishment. Much of the work against Ebola had been hindered by high levels of distrust among local communities, even feelings of being victimized by health services. In response, the World Health Organization set up an independent body, the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, to look at 鈥渢he human dimensions of health security,鈥� or what鈥檚 also called 鈥渄esign thinking.鈥�

In its latest report since the coronavirus pandemic began, the board concluded this: 鈥淚n many countries, communities are an afterthought, rather than at the center of preparedness, and governments and public health authorities have defaulted to one-way, directive communications rather than developing collaborative approaches that involve communities, leading to a disconnect between national messages and local contexts.鈥�

And to add a finer point, it made a prediction: 鈥淗ow the world emerges from this crisis will depend on whether and how countries, actors and communities overcome their unwillingness to work together.鈥�

That report was echoed in the United States by a study out of Johns Hopkins University in July. Titled 鈥淭he Public鈥檚 Role in COVID-19 Vaccination,鈥� the study made this stark assessment: 鈥淢uch is still unknown about what the diverse U.S. public knows, believes, feels, cares about, hopes, and fears in relation to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.鈥�

It suggested the health community shift its attitude in how to administer the coronavirus vaccine: 鈥淲hat does the person on the receiving end think, expect, experience, and sense about the valued good intended for him or her?鈥� Greater listening to individuals will help reduce what the health industry fears 鈥� 鈥渧accine hesitancy.鈥� The public鈥檚 sense of safety, the report stated, extends beyond health matters.

This attention to the mental climate of a health crisis is not new. Florence Nightingale, the famed 19th-century nurse pioneer, advised nurses to attend to a patient鈥檚 thinking as much as to the body. 鈥淗ow very little can be done under the spirit of聽fear,鈥� she said.

An effective vaccination campaign relies on more than a vaccine. Health officials must first understand their communities and the values of each individual. Such tender care is good medicine, lifting people鈥檚 thought to be active participants in any health emergency.