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1Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK;
2Bukavu Medical University College/Institut Supérieur des Techniques Médicales de Bukavu (ISTM-Bukavu), Bukavu, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo;
3Centre de Recherche sur la Démocratie et le Développement en Afrique (CREDDA), Université Libre des Pays des Grands Lacs, Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo;
4School of Environmental Sciences, Njala University, Freetown, Sierra Leone;
5Hygiene, State Administration, Kikwit, Democratic Republic of Congo
Correspondence: Susannah H Mayhew
Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, 15-17 Tavistock Place, London, WC1E 9SH, UK
In 1994, the world-renowned South African novelist Zakes Mda said it was imperative that South African elites wean themselves off the liberal notion of “doing something for the people”.
“Sustainable development”, he said, “is meaningful only if we do something ‘with the people’… to promote a spirit of self-reliance among the marginalised.”
From the outset of the global Covid-19 pandemic, governments around the world have failed to turn to their citizens, the people themselves, for their views and advice, or included them proactively in strategies to combat the pandemic. However, it is not too late. Something can still be done before the third wave arrives.