Insights into research at HEC Lausanne-UNIL - In the current context of the COVID pandemic, the research by Prof. Elena Esposito at HEC Lausanne (UNIL) on the response to the public health crisis caused by the Ebola epidemic offers many lessons. The researcher and her co-author highlight the risk of possible social instability that could persist for several years and threaten the success of recovery policies.
The current coronavirus pandemic is accompanied by considerable social and economic risks associated with managing a major public health crisis.
A study conducted by Prof. Esposito and her co-author, Prof. Ada Gonzalez-Torres from Ben Gurion University (Israel), on the public health response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa between 2014 and 2016 reveals that it resulted in an increase in civil violence of around 40%. They also found – alarmingly and unexpectedly – that the social unrest caused by the epidemic and exacerbated in this part of Africa by institutional mistrust was not short-lived, but survived the immediate crisis.
While an increase in civil disobedience, social unrest and conflict is predictable in certain contexts, it can also potentially be avoided with the right approach.
How? Find out more in the article published on the HECimpact blog.
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