{"id":137700,"date":"2025-05-16T23:01:58","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T23:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/pandemic-heroes-stepped-up-in-2020-now-theyre-asking-world-leaders-to-do-the-same-un-news\/"},"modified":"2025-05-16T23:01:58","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T23:01:58","slug":"pandemic-heroes-stepped-up-in-2020-now-theyre-asking-world-leaders-to-do-the-same-un-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/pandemic-heroes-stepped-up-in-2020-now-theyre-asking-world-leaders-to-do-the-same-un-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Pandemic heroes stepped up in 2020 \u2013 now they\u2019re asking world leaders to do the same – UN News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As world leaders negotiate the landmark Pandemic Preparedness Treaty at the WHO Assembly, we revisit frontline doctors, community advocates, a youth volunteer, and a journalist who lived through the storm of COVID-19. Theirs are just some of the millions of testimonies worldwide helping shape the urgent call for action. <\/span>
A defining moment for global health is about to unfold in Geneva.<\/p>\n

The World Health Assembly<\/a> is meeting next week to negotiate the Pandemic Preparedness Treaty<\/a>, a document born from the catastrophic failures and fragile victories of the COVID-19<\/a> pandemic.<\/p>\n

The text of the treaty promises shared information, equitable access to vaccines and therapeutics, and stronger healthcare systems \u2013 all of which resonates deeply with the people who lived through the worst.<\/p>\n

In 2020, at the height of the global pandemic, UN News spoke with many of the unsung heroes who faced impossible challenges with courage and resolve, including doctors, community workers, a journalist, a youth volunteer and an Indigenous leader.
They were exhausted, scared, hopeful and determined. Today, five years later, they carry scars and wisdom from that fight.<\/p>\n

We went back to them \u2013 and their reflections remind us of what is at stake.
\u201cWe were heroes without capes and without fair pay.\u201d<\/strong><\/em>
In 2020, Dr Margarita Castrill\u00f3n, a Colombian paediatrician living in Buenos Aires, found herself taking on far more than her usual clinic work.
As COVID-19 swept Argentina, she volunteered to also serve in emergency medical transport, riding in ambulances to transfer patients, many suspected of having the virus, to hospitals across the city.
After one of those long, exhausting shifts, she noticed a handwritten sign taped to the elevator in her apartment building.
It said \u201cI\u2019m Victoria from the 7th floor. If you need any groceries or help, ring my doorbell,\u201d she recalls. \u201cThat gesture filled my soul after such a hard day at work. It marked me. I thought: the good people outnumber the bad. Empathy was winning.\u201d
Dr Castrill\u00f3n was working across multiple roles \u2013 clinic, ambulance, teaching at the university \u2013 all while raising her young daughter. \u201cIt was brutal. I look back and I want to cry. I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d be as brave if it happened again. Every day I left home terrified.\u201d
The memory of Buenos Aires\u2019 summer heat under full protective suits stays with her. \u201cWe were heroes without capes and without fair pay. We worked 24 hours, covering for sick colleagues, unable to eat or speak together.\u201d
But the experience gave her one unexpected gift. \u201cI taught my daughter to read, write and do maths at home. It made me a better mum. I valued family and true friendship more than ever.\u201d
Her medical routine also changed permanently. \u201cI now wear a mask with every patient. It protects both of us. And hand sanitiser stations in hospitals are permanent now.\u201d
On the upcoming global pact, she is firm: \u201cWe need collaboration and love for people at the government level. We lived through hell. Some colleagues still suffer panic attacks. Recognition and fair pay are essential to keep health systems strong.\u201d
When we first spoke to Dr Evgeny Pinelis in the spring of 2020, he was deep in New York City\u2019s overwhelming first COVID wave.
\u201cOur first severe patient came on 7 March. By the end of the month, we had over forty ICU beds full,\u201d he recalled. ICU nurses were pushed beyond safe limits, caring for up to five critical patients at a time.
\u201cI do hope there won\u2019t be a next time, because I\u2019m not confident we\u2019re truly ready.\u201d<\/strong><\/em>
Protective equipment ran so scarce that he bought supplies with his own money, while volunteers scrambled to donate gear, some uncertified, but \u201cbetter than nothing.\u201d
Throughout the crisis, Dr Pinelis shared dispatches on social media, chronicling the chaos with honesty and caution. \u201cI woke up one morning to thousands of new followers,\u201d he said.
Five years later, his reflection is sobering. \u201cI can only speak about this from the perspective of a regular intensive care doctor. And if I had to sum it up, I\u2019d say I realised I\u2019m ready, if necessary, to work far beyond the norm and do everything possible when faced with a poorly understood disease that we didn\u2019t quite know how to treat.\u201d
The public\u2019s reaction, he says, was a mixed bag. \u201cOn the one hand, there were volunteers, support, and solidarity.
\u201cBut on the other, there were conspiracy theories, complaints about things as trivial as closed theatres, and at times even hostility toward medical professionals and scientists.\u201d
In the earliest days of the pandemic, positivity seemed to win out. \u201cBut within a month or so, the negativity began to dominate,\u201d he says. \u201cWe were lucky that the disease turned out not to be highly lethal.\u201d
As for preparedness today, Dr Pinelis remains cautious: \u201cBeing less prepared than we were in New York is hard to imagine \u2013 so yes, we can and should be better prepared. But it seems the lessons learned weren\u2019t quite the ones we hoped for. And I do hope there won\u2019t be a next time, because I\u2019m not confident we\u2019re truly ready.\u201d
In 2020, Dr Chen Jingyu, vice president of Wuxi People\u2019s Hospital and one of China\u2019s leading lung transplant surgeons, performed two of the world\u2019s first lung transplants on critically ill COVID-19 patients.
His team worked under extraordinary conditions, moving their operating theatre into an infectious disease hospital and taking extreme precautions to avoid infection.
\u201cWe didn\u2019t know if there was any virus in their airways during the process of cutting off the diseased lung. So, we did the surgery with very strict precautions,\u201d Dr Chen said at the time. \u201cWe had a very scientific discussion about how we could save lives, protect our health care workers, and achieve zero infection.\u201d
\u201cThe Pandemic Treaty is a turning point in global health.\u201d<\/strong><\/em>
Today, Dr Chen says the Pandemic Treaty represents a critical milestone. \u201cThe Pandemic Treaty is a turning point in global health governance,\u201d he says. \u201cFirst, in terms of prevention and early response, the treaty will help build a global coordinated prevention system, strengthen pathogen monitoring and information sharing, and implement the One Global Village, One Health approach.\u201d
\u201cSecond, the treaty provides legal guarantees for equitable access to medical resources, avoids national monopolies, and improves global standardisation of care capabilities to patients in severe conditions.\u201d
Dr Chen believes the lessons of the pandemic must be used to build a fairer system. \u201cAccess to and training of high-end medical technologies will enhance the ability of developing countries to respond to severe diseases such as respiratory failure and reduce mortality,\u201d he says.
\u201cOnly through international cooperation and scientific consensus can we truly have the courage and confidence to fight against pandemics.\u201d
The pandemic devastated Brazil\u2019s Indigenous communities, including Terena\u2019s own Xan\u00e9 people. \u201cI still can remember that morning, in our Indigenous community, when we heard that a cousin of ours had passed away suddenly.
\u201cHe started coughing and ended up dying. That scared all of us in our community,\u201d he recalls.
\u201cAbout two hours after his death, we learned that his wife, who had gone to the hospital to retrieve his body, had also died, from the same symptoms. We started panicking and looking for help, as this was a disease that even our leaders did not know how to handle, how to cure. They did not know much about this disease which was brought to us by the wind.\u201d
The loss became personal when his brother, the creator of the Indigenous Olympic Games, also died of COVID-19. \u201cIt brought us emotion, tears. He went to hospital and never came back.\u201d
\u201cThe UN must make a pact for life\u201d<\/strong><\/em>
Looking back, Mr Terena believes the World Health Organization played a crucial role. \u201cWhen the WHO<\/a> became the focal point and the mediator for the pandemic response, this gave the United Nations a very responsible role to play among governments across the globe,\u201d he says.
Today, his message remains urgent and clear. \u201cWe are not talking about money or currencies. We are talking about well-being. We the Indigenous people fight for the Earth. The Earth is our Mother, and our source of life; it gives us our cosmovision, our food security and our dignity as peoples.\u201d
As world leaders meet again, he leaves them with a final plea: \u201cThe UN should make a pact for life, a pact for dignity and a pact where life is crucial to all.\u201d
As COVID-19 overwhelmed Varanasi, India\u2019s spiritual heart, Nikhil Gupta \u2013 a United Nations Volunteer from Uttar Pradesh \u2013 stepped in to serve the most isolated communities.
\u201cThe pandemic changed everything,\u201d he says. \u201cIn Varanasi, COVID-19 infected over 80,000 people, and thousands of families in remote villages were left without access to healthcare, education, or even accurate information. But the crisis revealed not just gaps but grit.\u201d
Mr Gupta and his team launched creative grassroots solutions. \u201cGuided by the UN principle of \u2018Leave no one behind,\u2019 we created an animated volunteer guide named Ganga \u2013 a friendly character with a warm voice and simple wisdom. Ganga became a beacon of hope, educating villagers about hygiene, safety, and vaccination through videos watched on shared mobile screens under neem trees.\u201d
\u201cWhen the world paused, we stepped forward. When fear spread, we spread hope.\u201d<\/strong><\/em>
They also opened Vidya ki Jhopdi \u2013 The Hut of Education. \u201cIt was a community classroom built from scrap but powered by purpose. There I met Raju, an 11-year-old from a nearby slum who had lost access to school. He would sit on a worn-out mat every afternoon, eyes wide with wonder, scribbling letters in chalk. Today, he reads and writes fluently, and dreams of becoming a teacher.\u201d
The human moments left the deepest impression. \u201cThere was Amma Shanti Devi, a 90-year-old widow in a remote village. Left alone after the lockdown, she hadn\u2019t stepped out in months. Through our volunteers, she received regular wellness check-ins, medicine deliveries, and simply someone to talk to.\u201d
Looking ahead to the Pandemic Treaty, Mr Gupta says is shouldn\u2019t be only technical or top-down. \u201cIt should echo the voices of people like Amma and Raju. It must include local wisdom, volunteer networks, and ensure grassroots equity. My message to world leaders? \u2018Laws can guide, but love must lead. Invest in hearts that serve, not just in speed.\u2019\u201d
He adds: \u201cSupport young changemakers. Recognise the power of community-driven action. Make health systems inclusive. And build a world where, when the next storm hits, the light doesn\u2019t dim. Because in every village, there\u2019s a Nikhil. And in every Nikhil, a youth waiting to be led.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHealth is more than vaccines. It\u2019s also mental health, emotional health.\u201d<\/strong><\/em>
When the pandemic hit Mexico, Alejandra Crail was not just reporting the crisis, she was sounding an alarm. Her investigation, To Kill a Son, revealed that every two days in Mexico, a child under 15 is killed \u2013 often at home, and often by someone in their own family.
\u201cLet me remember something,\u201d she says. \u201cAt the beginning of the Coronavirus, I started to talk to different experts on childhood rights and domestic violence\u2026We were worried because we were about to lose our eyes in schools, sports, and community centres. Children were more vulnerable than ever during the COVID era.\u201d
For many, home wasn\u2019t a safe haven. \u201cTheir houses were the most dangerous places for them, and their nearest family members are usually their attackers.\u201d
Now, five years later, the violence hasn\u2019t eased. \u201cThe number of domestic violence cases has increased after the pandemic,\u201d Ms Crail says.
She shares one case she can\u2019t forget. Joselina Zavala, a grandmother who reported the sexual abuse of her disabled grandson. \u201cShe went to the police\u2026despite the testimony of the child and the proof, his father was absolved.
\u201cWhen people go to the authorities to achieve some kind of justice\u2026 the authorities usually don\u2019t investigate enough, and the crimes are unsolved.\u201d
The pandemic also reshaped her personal convictions. \u201cHealth is the most important thing to make sure that we have,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen we live in a country like Mexico, where we don\u2019t have a good public health system, a pandemic or any other illness can be very, very hard to survive.\u201d
She adds, \u201cWork isn\u2019t the most important thing in the world. Family – your loved ones \u2013 are the real treasure. We need to spend more time with them, because we don\u2019t know how much time we can share.\u201d
Looking ahead to the World Health Assembly and the Pandemic Treaty, she warns that global responses must go beyond access to vaccines and medicine. \u201cHealth is more than vaccines. It\u2019s also mental health, emotional health,\u201d she says.
Her final message to world leaders is as personal as it is political: \u201cWe need to open paths that benefit all countries that make up the world. These issues must be on the table because in a pandemic, they can be the difference between a family surviving adversity, or not.\u201d
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Facebook Twitter Print Email As world leaders negotiate the landmark Pandemic Preparedness Treaty at the WHO Assembly, we revisit frontline doctors, community advocates, a youth volunteer, and a journalist who lived through the storm of COVID-19. Theirs are just some of the millions of testimonies worldwide helping shape the urgent call for action. A defining moment […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":137701,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}