Chapter 1362 Medical Industry
At present, the situation in Cabinda, Luanda and Benguela is the most serious, so the relevant measures and procedures are also the most stringent.
This has undoubtedly caused a certain impact on the industries in the three cities, but it has more affected the service industry and commercial activities, while industry and agriculture have been affected very little.
In fact, in addition to requiring businesses and consumption places to increase necessary epidemic prevention measures, the East African government did not force them to close and stop business activities. However, due to news media reports and tedious inspections by industrial and commercial departments, some merchants still took the initiative to close their business premises.
This is normal. Although the East African government did not force them to close, it imposed restrictions on the flow of customers to prevent crowds from gathering beyond the cordon.
However, when there is less customer flow, the rent, water, electricity and other expenses have not decreased. In addition, due to the increase in epidemic prevention measures, there are additional expenses. This may cause the merchants in these business premises to reduce profits or even lose money. It is better to temporarily stop operations.
In other words, although the East African governments did not close their doors completely, some business units were unable to withstand the impact of the epidemic. This is what East Africa calls giving equal importance to epidemic prevention and the economy.
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Unlike the relatively relaxed epidemic prevention policies in East Africa, today's European and American countries can be said to be using all means to prevent the spread of the plague.
London.
In February, the London government enforced the closure of schools, cinemas, theaters, churches and all public gathering places.
The entire streets of London fell into a great depression for a time, even more bleak than during the war. After all, World War I did not affect the British mainland, while the epidemic was raging in London and other places.
The beds in London's hospitals are full of patients, but the beds are still very tight, or completely unable to meet the demand, and there are long queues in the hospitals and crematoriums.
"Currently, more than 100,000 people have died from influenza in London, and about 200,000 nationwide. The situation is extremely critical."
"This happened in less than half a month. The specific figures may be more serious than we imagined, because there are many people who cannot be counted at all."
The reason why the number of deaths in London is so prominent is closely related to London's high degree of urbanization. The population of London as a whole accounts for more than ten percent of the UK and is highly concentrated in such a small area, which increases the risk of transmission.
Prime Minister David listened to his subordinates' report with a gloomy face and asked, "What is the situation abroad?"
The British health minister said: "In Europe, the situation in France and Germany is not much better than ours. Although France was well prepared, it is the source of the flu after all, so the situation in France may not be much better than ours."
"Except for Germany and France, other European countries have been affected. The epidemic has now spread to the entire European region, and even Russia, the easternmost country, has been affected."
"Apart from Europe, North America was the hardest hit because after the armistice, American and Canadian soldiers returned home, which led to a large influx of influenza patients into the United States and Canada."
Prime Minister David asked, "What about East Africa?"
The foreign minister said: "According to feedback from our diplomatic departments in East Africa, East Africa has now controlled the epidemic in the coastal areas, and their capital Rhine City has not been affected for the time being."
"However, according to the information sent back by our consulate in Cabinda, even in Cabinda, the worst-hit area in East Africa, there are actually only a few thousand patients."
"Because East Africa discovered the flu relatively early, they have largely kept it out of the country. However, as time goes by, it should spread to the interior of East Africa..."
Prime Minister David can no longer listen. Now he doesn't care how the epidemic will develop in East Africa in the future. The current reality is that the situation in East Africa is better than that in the UK, and even better than most countries.
However, this is also normal. After all, East Africa is far away from Europe. So after the flu is discovered, as long as customs work is done well, most sources of infection can be kept out of the country.
In fact, there is a region in the UK that has not been greatly affected by the plague, and that is Australia. After the outbreak of the plague, Australia introduced relevant policies and carried out active isolation.
Australia itself is located in a very remote place, with a vast land area and a sparse population, so it is naturally the least affected by the epidemic.
Prime Minister David said helplessly: "There is no other way now. Before we are sure that the mortality rate of this plague has dropped, we must continue to maintain a high-pressure policy and strictly guard against the French flu."
As France's old rival, Britain has never given France face. Britain did not accept the definition of the European flu as defined by East Africa, and instead called the epidemic the French flu.
Although the British government would not say this in official occasions, they all say this in private, because the plague was most likely to occur in France.
Today, the British people hate the "French flu" so much that the data mentioned before are only the number of deaths registered with the government, and the number of infected people will obviously be much higher.
Now in the whole of London, it is really rare to find someone who has not been infected, but most people can survive. As for those who cannot survive, they will become cold numbers in the British government statistics.
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Compared with Britain, American talents have truly suffered from the disaster, especially US President Wilson, whose public approval rating has recently dropped sharply.
At present, the Wilson administration is facing the impact of four major problems. The first is that the United States participated in World War I, but did not gain much practical benefits after the war, which made all classes in the United States very dissatisfied.
The second problem is that because the war ended suddenly, the Germans, who had been suppressed by the US government, began to fight back and retaliate against the United States.
After the United States entered the war, German Americans suffered various persecutions, yet Germans were one of the most populous ethnic groups in the United States. Now that the war is over, with Germany's support, these Germans will naturally not be satisfied.
The third problem is the impact of the sudden outbreak on American society. Americans now believe that the flu was brought back to the United States because of the government’s participation in the European war.
The fourth problem is the military issue. The center of the epidemic in the United States this time was caused by the military, and military camps have become the largest point of epidemic transmission. However, due to the inadequate handling of the US government, this has caused dissatisfaction among some grassroots soldiers in the United States.
After all, in order to prevent the spread of the epidemic, the US government confined the troops to military barracks, which in turn made the entire barracks a breeding ground for the virus.
What’s more, the U.S. government is in arrears of wages and is unable to make up for war pensions and other bad practices.
It can be said that the United States is now like a powder keg. Various social problems have accumulated together, and it has encountered the epidemic period. There is a risk of explosion at any time.
This forced American interest groups to sacrifice the current US government to quell public anger, so President Wilson's situation was even more difficult than that of French President Clemenceau.
Fortunately, the United States is a true democracy. At least the president and the government can be dragged out to take the blame, temporarily relieving the pressure on the people. Although changing the president may not necessarily solve these problems, at least it can have a certain calming effect on the people.
White House.
President Wilson, looking haggard, asked Secretary of State Henry, "What is the current situation of the influenza pandemic in Europe?"
Henry said: "The situation is very bad. In addition to the uncountable number of infected people, business activities have been severely disrupted. Factories and companies cannot operate normally due to a large number of sick workers. Schools have to suspend classes. The development and operation of the entire society have been affected."
President Wilson asked, "Is there no cure for this plague? Is it really as unstoppable as the Black Death?"
Henry replied: "That's the case at the moment, but there is a solution. According to disease experts, the best way to deal with the European flu is isolation."
"This plague is mainly transmitted through the respiratory tract, which means that reducing the flow and communication of people can minimize the risk of infection."
"In addition, we can learn from the experience of the East African and French governments, increase national control, and pay more attention to the health and medical sectors."
The power and credibility of the U.S. government are far less than those of the East African governments, which means that the United States cannot copy some of the policies that can be implemented in East Africa. The individual states of the United States may not necessarily act in accordance with the instructions of the U.S. government.
This is also one of the main reasons why the United States failed to respond to the European flu. Each state has its own laws, which makes it difficult for the flow of people and materials to follow the will of the U.S. government.
President Wilson said: "It seems that we can no longer leave this unattended. We must restrain the states and strictly follow the instructions of the government. When facing a public crisis like the plague, the whole country should unite as one, rather than stand idly by."
"At the same time, we will vigorously promote the popularization of health knowledge among the public. The government will take the lead in printing a batch of publications and posters to make the domestic public aware of the harm and transmission methods of the European influenza as much as possible, so as to reduce the risk of the spread of the epidemic."
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Except for the United States and the United Kingdom, countries and regions around the world have their own measures and methods to deal with the epidemic.
However, most countries in the world are more inclined to learn from France's "advanced" experience, even East Africa, the country that first made relevant plans.
The reason for this result, in addition to the fact that France was one of the first countries to introduce relevant bills and measures, the second reason seems a bit ridiculous, that is, the epidemic in France is more serious than in East Africa.
France is most likely the source of the epidemic and the area hardest hit.
This has made France a testing ground for various ways to deal with the epidemic, but in East Africa, the number of infections in the country has not even exceeded 50,000, which is simply impossible to achieve this goal.
In the experience gained in France, there is no doubt that basic methods such as masks, disinfection, attention to hygiene, and isolation have been verified, which has also allowed these effective related measures to spread from France to all parts of the world.
Starting from February 1920, masks began to be promoted all over the world. Although masks were invented in East Africa (as in this time and space), it was France that really played a role in promoting them.
Since February, the whole world has started a trend of wearing masks, which has made related companies in East Africa earn a lot of money.
Because since the last century, East Africa has always been the largest producer of medical supplies such as masks. Although the original intention of East African masks was to deal with diseases in some tropical regions, it has also led to East Africa always being the largest producer of masks and the only country with large-scale industrial production.
A large number of orders poured into East Africa, which made East African mask manufacturers make a lot of money. In addition, some manufacturers of alcohol, medicine, etc. also received a large number of overseas orders.
Among them, there are many kinds of antipyretic drugs in East Africa. In addition to some patented drugs authorized for production, East Africa also has some pharmaceutical products obtained based on traditional Chinese medicine and other medicines.
Regardless of the specific effects, this has indeed greatly increased the variety of medicines in East Africa.
There are also many sources of patented drugs in East Africa. One is the drugs developed by East Africa itself, another is the drugs produced with authorization from other countries, and the last is some drug patents obtained by East Africa from its allies.
During the World War, East Africa, as a neutral country, naturally became a factory for drug processing in some countries, which led some foreign pharmaceutical companies to invest in East Africa to produce related drugs.
At the end of the war, East Africa obtained a lot of good things from the Allies, which stimulated the accelerated development of East Africa's pharmaceutical industry.
After the war, due to the destruction caused by the war, some local pharmaceutical companies in European countries had not yet recovered, which made their market temporarily lost to East Africa.
Of course, this is also related to the natural environment of East Africa. As a tropical country, East Africa itself attaches great importance to the pharmaceutical industry. After all, the tropics are a breeding ground for various diseases.
Therefore, since the last century, East African governments have tried every possible way to develop their own pharmaceutical industries, and even did some shady things for this purpose.
The most typical example is to conduct relevant experiments through black people. It can be said that black people have made great contributions to the development of the East African pharmaceutical industry. With the help of these black people, East African pharmaceutical companies and research institutions can boldly try and error and accumulate experience.
This also led to a huge explosion in medical research and development in East Africa after the 1990s. There are naturally reasons why this happened after the 1990s.
After all, medical research and development requires professional talent and knowledge accumulation, and the 1990s was also the time when compulsory education and higher education in East Africa began to pay off on a large scale.
At the same time, East Africa has been actively introducing medical achievements from all over the world, and after two or three decades of accumulation, it has begun to show initial results. Only after laying a solid foundation of personnel and knowledge can the East African government carry out research in the medical field in an orderly manner.
In the 1990s, slavery was relatively developed in East Africa, and there were still a large number of black laborers in East Africa as material for medical researchers.
Therefore, after gathering policy support, talent training, special funds, relevant equipment, basic theoretical knowledge, experimental materials and other elements, it would be very difficult for the East African pharmaceutical industry not to explode.
After more than 20 years of accumulation and development, East Africa had become one of the most developed countries in the world in medical research and pharmaceutical industry before World War I.
As a result, the East African pharmaceutical industry was able to make a fortune during World War I and made East African medical care known worldwide.
This is also the main reason why the United States was still unable to compete with East Africa in the field of medical products in Europe in the later stages of the war. East African medical products not only had large output, but also more reliable quality.
Through the good reputation accumulated at the beginning of the war, at least the armies and soldiers of various countries are more willing to trust East African products.
In the early 20th century, the recognition from Europe meant that East African medical products were recognized by the world.
In the later stages of the war, after further absorbing some medical technologies from Germany and other countries, the East African pharmaceutical industry has actually become the world's number one, both in terms of industry scale and product quality.
(End of this chapter)
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