Pandemia (sindemia?) do COVID-19: uma análise jurídica do princípio da precaução

Abstract

This dissertation has as its theme the pandemic caused by COVID-19, its reflexes on social inequalities, specifically with regard to hunger and unemployment. In addition, the concept of syndemic and its social consequences is worked on, aiming to verify if what has affected humanity in this second decade of the 21st century is in fact a pandemic. Finally, the precautionary principle will be analyzed, based on its legal structure and the International Health Regulations (IHR), in order to manage risks and consequences in pandemic scenarios. The pandemic caused by COVID-19 can be seen as the biggest social rupture experienced by man in this new century, since it forced populations all over the world to adapt to new realities and new social contexts. However, this essay has as one of its objectives, to build the concept that we live in a syndemic and not a pandemic. Syndemics are characterized by the interaction between two or more diseases or social interactions with amplified effects on the health level of populations. Pandemic/syndemic realities require actions, which sometimes require immediate solutions, thus, the precautionary principle is approached in this work, supported by protocols and guidelines of the International Health Regulations (IHR), from its applicability and as a guide for the human action in the face of scientific uncertainties and an agent for mitigating the effects of future pandemics.