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When Wuhan was gripped by the coronavirus epidemic earlier this year, several Chinese blogs recommended people read a 1958 poem by Communist leader Mao Zedong. Entitled ‘Sending off the plague God,’ the poem celebrated the success of a campaign to eradicate the devastating parasitic disease, schistosomiasis, from Yujiang, a small county in central China.
But schistosomiasis was never eradicated in Mao’s China, despite the state’s continuing claims to the contrary, writes historian Xun Zhou. In a new book, she draws from rarely seen archives and fresh interviews with villagers and party officials to unpick the history of the campaign and the cover-up of its failure. She says little has changed in China’s
relationship between propaganda and public health since the 1950s.
In other news, Philip Roscoe, writes about how an infamous 18th century trial shows how slavery continues to cast a shadow on global finance today.
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Gemma Ware
Global Affairs Editor and Podcast Producer
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China’s campaign from the 1950s to eradicate schistosomiasis, or ‘snail fever’, has been lauded ever since.
US National Library of Medicine
Xun Zhou, University of Essex
New research shows China's claim to have eradicated this parasitic disease in the 1950s were false, and part of a big cover up.
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Shutterstock.com
Philip Roscoe, University of St Andrews
Slave traders transformed human lives into profit-bearing opportunities – just like modern finance.
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COVID-19
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Jessica Kaufman, Murdoch Children's Research Institute; Margie Danchin, Murdoch Children's Research Institute
The government should used trusted spokespeople, tailor information so it can be understood by different groups, acknowledge people's concerns, be transparent, and seek public feedback along the way.
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Sheena Cruickshank, University of Manchester
Abnormal functioning of the immune system is what characterises severe COVID, and can be driven by diabetes, obesity, sex and age.
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Politics & Society
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Clemens Hoffmann, University of Stirling
With France on manoeuvres and Germany struggling to play peacemaker, Turkish-Greek relations are close to 1974 lows.
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Federico Cammelli, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich; Jos Barlow, Lancaster University; Rachael Garrett, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
Fires that burn the forest burn crops and pastures alike. But farmers in the eastern Amazon are left with few good options.
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En Français
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Cathy Clerbaux, Sorbonne Université
Retour sur les incendies terribles en Australie de ce début d'année grâce à une observation satellitaire.
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Jean-Paul Michel Larçon, HEC Paris Business School
Pourquoi les États-Unis s’arc-boutent-ils autant contre Huawei ? Et surtout, quelles stratégies de résilience le géant du smartphone peut-il mobiliser ?
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En español
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Ignacio López-Goñi, Universidad de Navarra
Hay más de 40.000 artículos sobre el coronavirus y la enfermedad que causa, pero todavía queda mucho por saber.
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Jorge Laborda Fernández, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
Un estudio holandés ha identificado problemas inmunitarios causados por defectos en el gen TLR-7 que podrían hacer a algunos pacientes más vulnerables al coronavirus causante de la COVID-19.
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