Abstract

WELTI-CHANES, Carlos  and  RAMIREZ-PENAGOS, Alfonso C.. Sociodemographic knowledge and institutional response to a pandemic. The case of Mexico. Pap. poblac [online]. 2021, vol.27, n.107, pp.41-101.  Epub Dec 06, 2021. ISSN 2448-7147.  https://doi.org/10.22185/24487147.2021.107.04.

The article makes evident the need to take into account the demographic characteristics of the population including those of the globalized society that interacts with it, to make founded decisions, in the área of public policy in order to face a phenomenon, whose consequences may be catastrophic such as a pandemic. The text analyses the non-pharmacological response, to a pandemic to reduce the level of contagion among the population and that includes measures such as social isolation, quarantine and the partial or total closure of areas whose activities require the interaction in real time between individuals implying physical contact between them, and it shows the need to evaluate the possible effects in people derived from their socially structured location in organizations such as the market, the school or the family. Public policies to face the pandemic are the central nucleus of the analysis and specifically, the government actions that are designed or should be designed in various áreas, and that are put into operation through specific organizations with this objective. The recent experience in the case of Mexico in 2020 with Covid-19 serves to illustrate this analysis and show how important it is for the government to define, together with a strategic vision that establishes the country's development objectives, the short run actions to face the risks derived from a pandemic, a natural disaster, or other events that threaten health of human populations and all of these should take into account their demographic characteristics.

Keywords : Pandemic; public policies; demography.