How pandemics end - 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English

from BBC Learning English.

I'm Sam.

And I'm Neil.

In March 2020, the World Health

Organisation, the WHO,

declared Covid-19 a pandemic.

Now, after two and half years in the

shadow of Covid, for many people travel

restrictions are ending, and many people

around the world are

starting their lives again.

But not everyone.

Whether it's because of

lockdowns and not seeing friends, or

getting sick, even dying, everyone wants

to see an end to the pandemic.

But with cases of Covid infections still

in the millions, and doctors warning

about new variants of the disease, is

the pandemic really coming to an end?

In this programme, we'll be finding out

how pandemics end,

and, as usual, we'll be learning some

related vocabulary as well.

Of course, pandemics are nothing new.

Ancient texts are full of stories

of plagues which spread

death and disease before

eventually going away.

In the Middle Ages, The Black Death that

killed over half of Europe's population

lasted for four years.

It's only with modern

vaccines that diseases

have been eradicated - completely ended.

So, Neil, my question this week is:

which disease was eradicated in 1977?

Was it: a) cholera, b) polio,

or c) smallpox?

I'm going to say c) small pox.

OK, I'll reveal the answer

at the end of the program.

Of course, the idea that

the pandemic might not

be ending isn't something

people want to hear.

Most people are sick of

worrying about Covid and

can't wait for things

to get back to normal.

But as Yale University physician,

Professor Nicholas Christakis,

explained to BBC World Service

programme, The Inquiry, it's not

just the biological disease that needs to

end - pandemics have a social ending too.

Pandemics are not just

a biological phenomenon,

they're also a social

phenomenon, and they end socially.

And one of the ways that they

end socially is when

everyone just sort of

agrees that they have

ended - when everyone is

simply willing to tolerate more risk.

On other words, we sort of declare victory,

maybe prematurely, or

another way of thinking about it is,

we put our heads in the sand.

Biologically Covid still

exists in the world and

most of us would rather not catch it.

But if you're vaccinated, the

risk of getting seriously

ill is much lower, so it's reasonable to

make plans to resume normal life.

When enough people do this, we

declare victory - a phrase meaning to

announce something to be

finished before it

actually is, but when

it looks 'good enough'.

The danger is that we declare victory

prematurely - too soon, before it's the best

time to do so.

Professor Christakis uses another idiom

for this - to bury your head in the

sand, meaning to deliberately refuse

to accept the truth about something you

find unpleasant.

It's also true that pandemics do not end in

the same way for everyone, everywhere.

Rich western countries

with the resources to vaccinate their

populations are in a

better position than most.

Professor Dora Vargha is an expert on the

history of medicine.

She compares the Covid

pandemic to an ongoing

disease for which we

have no cure, and which

has killed millions since

its outbreak in the 1980s - HIV/Aids.

Here is Professor Vargha,

speaking with BBC World Service's, The Inquiry.

What happens in the case of HIV/Aids is that it

became from being an

immediate death sentence

basically to a manageable

chronic disease... but that happens in

societies that have the means and

the infrastructure to make

that possible with medication, and that is

not necessarily true for all parts of the

world, but we don't

think about the HIV/Aids

pandemic as an ongoing pandemic.

Although HIV has no cure,

modern medical drugs

allow people to continue

living with the disease for years.

HIV is no longer a death sentence - a phrase

meaning the punishment of

death for committing a

crime, or from an incurable disease.

Nowadays, HIV is no longer fatal.

It has become a disease which can be

controlled and is chronic, or long lasting.

We no longer think of Aids as a pandemic,

but that's not true everywhere - only

in countries which can provide the necessary

medical drugs and support.

Finding the right balance

of Covid restrictions

for communities of people

exhausted by the pandemic isn't easy.

Many scientists are warning that we

haven't yet reached the beginning of the end

of Covid, but hopefully

we're at least reaching

the end of the beginning.

Let's finish the programme on a hopeful note

by remembering that diseases

can and do eventually end - like in your

quiz question, Sam.

Yes, I asked which disease was eradicated in 1977.

Neil said it was smallpox, which was

the correct answer! Well done, Neil!

Smallpox no longer occurs naturally, but

did you know that samples of smallpox

do still exist, frozen in American and Soviet

laboratories during the Cold War!

As if the thought that

the Covid pandemic might

never end isn't scary enough!

Right, let's recap the vocabulary we've

learnt starting with eradicate - to completely

get rid of something, such as a disease.

If you declare victory,

you announce something

to be finished before it actually is.

The danger is doing this is that

you announce it prematurely, or too soon.

The idiom ;bury your head

in the sand' means to

refuse to accept or look

at a situation you don't like.

A death sentence means the

punishment of death for

committing a crime, or

from an incurable disease.

And finally, a chronic

disease is one which lasts for a long time.

Even though the pandemic hasn't

ended, our programme has

because our six minutes are up.

Bye for now!

Bye!