News & Media Opinion Pieces Independent Australia: COVID-19 has reminded us to trust and prioritise science

Independent Australia: COVID-19 has reminded us to trust and prioritise science

The coronavirus pandemic should lead us to consider the importance of science and the environment, writes Dr Graeme McLeay. 

It’s hard to find a silver lining in the dark clouds of COVID-19, but perhaps there will be a shift in the way science is regarded by the political classes. 

The stark reality is that only science and the application of scientific principles can ameliorate the pandemic which is still in its early phase. Gone is the primacy of the economy and the surplus: it has been replaced by the need to first save live and then to prevent total societal breakdown. 

Perhaps now we can hope for a more general recognition that all government policy must be backed by the best available scientific and medical knowledge and be implemented for the common good. 

Dr Graeme McLeay is a retired anaesthetist and a member of Doctors for the Environment Australia

Read the full article published on 1 April 2020 in Independent Australia