Talk:Preventable (book)

This article is rated Start-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects:

Books Medicine Low‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject Medicine, which recommends that medicine-related articles follow the Manual of Style for medicine-related articles and that biomedical information in any article use high-quality medical sources. Please visit the project page for details or ask questions at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Medicine.MedicineWikipedia:WikiProject MedicineTemplate:WikiProject Medicinemedicine articles Low This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale. COVID-19 Low‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject COVID-19, a project to coordinate efforts to improve all COVID-19-related articles. If you would like to help, you are invited to join and to participate in project discussions.COVID-19Wikipedia:WikiProject COVID-19Template:WikiProject COVID-19COVID-19 articles Low This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale. United Kingdom Low‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject United Kingdom, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the United Kingdom on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.United KingdomWikipedia:WikiProject United KingdomTemplate:WikiProject United KingdomUnited Kingdom articles Low This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

I can't see any of this supported in the cited source Maishman, Elsa (26 April 2022). "Book review: Preventable, by Devi Sridhar". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 2022-05-01. Apparently it is though. CT55555, please check it and correct me with the appropriate quotes from it if I'm mistaken. Thanks. -- DeFacto (talk). 13:14, 13 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for bringing this to talk. I'll reply carefully, soon. CT55555 (talk) 13:58, 13 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

The words in the article: The book documents how scientific advice was ignored by the Cabinet of the United Kingdom and laments how Scotland's pandemic situation was negatively impacted by decisions made by Westminster politicians

Regarding how advice was ignored by the UK, the relevant words are: "The book describes a close working relationship with Nicola Sturgeon, who has been much more willing to take Sridhar’s advice than Boris Johnson and "Johnson, on the other hand, is frequently likened to his fellow populists Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro, and the book seethes with a quiet anger and contempt at advice ignored..."

Regarding how the Scottish situation was negatively impacted by decisions made in England, the words are: "There is a sense of regret that Scotland isn’t an island which could have gone its own way, with its own Covid-19 strategy not marred by cases being brought across the border with England, an inability to introduce new furlough payments and a lack of control over protocol for international arrivals."

These themes are also included in other reviews:

1. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/may/11/preventable-by-devi-sridhar-review-a-resolutely-global-view-of-covid

"Sridhar hints that an independent Scotland – which would have been able to close its own borders and control its own furlough schemes, powers currently reserved for Westminster – might have enjoyed different outcomes"

1. https://www.newstatesman.com/encounter/2022/04/devi-sridhar-on-the-next-pandemic-and-why-she-abandoned-zero-covid (actually I maybe should have cited this too, as it's maybe even clearer)

On UK government ignoring her warnings "It was not until 23 March 2020, more than two months after Sridhar’s warning, that the UK government imposed a lockdown"

"“First you had Boris Johnson missing the five Cobra meetings, which meant the top leadership was just absent,” Sridhar said. “As other countries such as South Korea were acting, Britain was turning its head completely the other way.”

"Sridhar is also fiercely critical of Sage, the government’s official scientific advisory body, which reinforced Johnson’s complacency. She derided “the groupthink that led to the whole ‘herd immunity, we’re all going to get it’ [attitude]. And also not believing there would be a vaccine and thinking reinfections wouldn’t happen, this idea of ‘just let it cut through’. "

"Perhaps unsurprisingly, Sridhar favourably contrasts the Scottish government’s Covid strategy with Johnson’s, praising Sturgeon’s consistent and clear communication, the decision not to outsource test and trace and the cautious approach to ending lockdown restrictions."

"Sridhar also referenced the “very limited” powers of the Scottish government. Does she believe an independent Scotland would have fared better? “It’s tricky to say, this is a political question, but I think a more devolved response would have fared better,” she replied diplomatically." CT55555 (talk) 14:52, 13 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

No wonder I couldn't find it! There are a lot of non-intuitive assumptions required to be able to verify that one then. Perhaps you need to add a bit more discussion to that entry to smooth the way for the uninitiated. -- DeFacto (talk). 15:44, 13 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the feedback. As I write about this, I do realise that it will be less intuitive for some. So I'm happy to work to improve the article. Can you clarify, do you think I'm saying anything incorrect? I'm happy for suggestions on how to improve it. CT55555 (talk) 15:49, 13 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I think you should stick more closely to the words used in the source, to make it easier for readers to

verify. It's quite a leap of faith to say that either of those parts are actually supported by the cited source. If supplementary sources are needed to support it, then they need to be cited too. -- DeFacto (talk). 16:10, 13 June 2022 (UTC)[reply

]