A planetary health perspective on COVID-19: a call for papers

Abstract

It is natural during the unfolding coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to focus on emergency response planning, including containment, treatment procedures, and vaccine development, and nobody would doubt the need for these measures. However, an emergency can also open a window of opportunity for reflection and learning. We live in increasingly global, interdependent, and environmentally constrained societies and the COVID-19 pandemic exemplifies these aspects of our world. We would therefore be wise to take a broad integrated perspective on this disease, the impacts of which are already spilling over into the realms of economics, international trade, politics, and inequality. Resilience planning needs to cope with these cascading impacts, and prevention efforts require a similarly wide lens to encompass ecosystems, wild animal disease surveillance, agricultural practices, eating habits, and cultural traditions and contexts. In other words, we need a planetary health perspective that cuts across traditional domains of knowledge, governance, and economic sectors to properly address the challenge posed by COVID-19. We welcome submissions on all aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic across the Lancet titles, but here we are calling for submissions to The Lancet and The Lancet Planetary Health. We particularly welcome interdisciplinary research that integrates across important knowledge domains to provide a fuller understanding of the causes and socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19, as well as public understanding and responses, the efficacy of management and prevention interventions, and approaches for the identification and prevention of future such events within the wider context of the Sustainable Development Goals. Submit your paper through our respective online systems and please mention in your cover letter that your submission is in response to this call for papers.