By Dr Arun Mitra
The COVID-19 pandemic has created global panic. This is a relatively new strain of virus and we have little knowledge of its spread and the damage it can cause. We are not sure about how long will it continue. The pandemic has brought the global economy to a standstill. Even the highly developed countries are finding it hard to cope up and are trying to meet the minimum basic needs of their people. Whereas the developed world may be able to feed its population for months in this crisis, but for the developing world it is going to be a horrendous task.
India with hunger index of 102 out of 117 and human development index at 129 out of 189 countries faces an uphill task to feed the hungry whose number will increase exponentially as result of lockdown. Out of nearly 54 crore labour force in the country about 47 crores is in the informal sector. They are without any job security, guarantee of minimum wage or savings. Most of them are not even able to make bare minimum earnings to live a healthy life every day. It is these large numbers who need empathy with on the ground real steps to feed them. We require huge funds to ensure that this majority populace gets at least sustenance meals, what to talk of a balanced diet.
But it is an irony that the global community has been having skewed priorities which do not conform to the present day requirements.
While hundreds of millions of people across the globe go hungry, the world military expenditure is rising constantly. Total world military expenditure rose to $1822 billion in 2018, representing an increase of 2.6 per cent from 2017, according to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The US tops the defense spending at 684 billion USD. China’s defence expenditure is 181 billion USD, while India is the 5th largest military spender with an outlay of 60 billion USD with a GDP spending of 2.4 %. Pakistan’s spending on arms is 4% of the GDP.
The nuclear-armed nations spend close to US$300 million (Rs.2000 crores) a day on their nuclear forces. The production, maintenance and modernization of nuclear forces diverts vast public resources away from healthcare, education, climate change mitigation, disaster relief, development assistance and other vital services. Globally, annual expenditure on nuclear weapons is estimated at US$ 105 billion – or $ 12 million an hour. The World Bank forecast in 2002 that an annual investment of just US$ 40–60 billion, or roughly half the amount currently spent on nuclear weapons, would be enough to meet the internationally agreed goals for poverty alleviation.
Nuclear weapons spending in 2010 was more than twice the official development assistance provided to Africa and equal to the gross domestic product of Bangladesh, a nation of some 160 million people. The Office for Disarmament Affairs – the principal UN body responsible for advancing a nuclear-weapon-free world – has an annual budget of $10 million, which is less than the amount spent on nuclear weapons every hour. As former UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said “The world is over-armed and peace is under-funded …. The end of the cold war has led the world to expect a massive peace dividend. Yet, there are over 20,000 nuclear weapons around the world. Many of them are still on hair-trigger alert, threatening our own survival.”
Several organizations including the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) have been warning since long that the enormous expenditure on the arms race will deprive the world of required expenditure on health and education. Any nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan would put 2 billion people at risk; And any such exchange between the two major nuclear powers can lead to extinction of modern civilization built through thousands of years of human labour.
The arms have the power to kill directly; but their continued production and maintenance leads to diversion of huge funds which could have otherwise met the needs of improving health of millions around the globe. Present situation, when the world has come to stand still, is in itself more than a warning that the world has to develop mutual cooperation to move forward. There is urgent need for development of an equitable healthcare delivery system which meets the needs of all sections of society without distinction of cast, creed, religion, ethnicity, gender and socio economic status through a global frame work.
It may not sound appropriate, but COVID 19 pandemic can be utilized as an opportunity to work towards disarmament and establish a global peace order where the priorities are changed from controlling other’s wealth to sharing knowledge and technology to promote mutual cooperation and development. (IPA Service)
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