Defamation Against Healthcare Workers During COVID-19 Pandemic

Document Type : Letter to Editor

Authors

1 Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK

2 Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

3 Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan

4 Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

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Full Text

 

Dear Editor,

While front-line healthcare workers (HCWs) combatting coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have commanded much respect and praise,1 they have been persecuted in Japan – a collective society where individual reputation and work ethic are traditionally viewed as important as one’s life. HCWs, who were exposed to higher risk of infection due to lack of sufficient personal protective equipment and mentally exhausted in daily work, have another epidemic to fight: defamation. They have been targeted for discrimination and abuse in off-duty hours and stigmatized as “germs” in public spaces with many suffering social sanctions in forms of social exclusion and even bullying.2 ... (Read more...)

 

References

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History

  • Receive Date: 28 August 2020
  • Revise Date: 19 September 2020
  • Accept Date: 20 September 2020
  • First Publish Date: 27 September 2020

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