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The COVID-19 pandemic brings up unprecedented challenges. Healthcare practitioners find themselves in an extraordinary, wartime-like situation and are obliged to apply triage on a daily basis. In this context, routine procedures prove insufficient and the redefinition of ethical practice guidelines becomes a necessity – leading not only to a shift in procedures, but also reshaping the very value of human life. This, in turn, triggers an axiological crisis, which exacerbates the tension between paradigms of sanctity and quality of life and the conflicting principles of egalitarianism and utilitarianism. Triage should not be limited to healthcare practice only: the concept can be extended to a macro-level where policymakers decide whether to prioritize human lives over livelihoods and economic health, impacting healthcare system capacity. The complexity of the challenges arising from the pandemic uncovers the urgent need to seek solutions from an integrated approach. In this paper, we offer a transdisciplinary view: we first define technical aspects of triage from the perspective of a healthcare professional. In the second part, we further analyze the problem of medical prioritization in the light of doctrinal findings related to the value of human life, and we show how and to what extent this philosophical debate is reflected in the emerging ethical guidelines in France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany and Austria. Finally, we broaden the concept of triage, adding the “macro-economic” ingredient in our analysis and we present the results for selected European countries with special emphasis on the case of Poland.

In this article, we examine the legal challenges encountered by LGBT+ individuals in Poland and Mexico within the context of prevailing cis-heteronormative structures. These structures deeply influence societal and legal systems in both countries, resulting in marginalization and discrimination. We compare the development of LGBT+ movements and their impact on legislative changes by analysing enacted laws, court cases, and law proposals. The study highlights the progress and obstacles to achieving equality in each case: Mexico has made significant strides in recognizing non-binary perspectives and advancing LGBT+ rights, while Poland has faced setbacks due to the continuous rejection of progressive reforms. Both countries continue to navigate unique challenges in their pursuit of greater inclusivity for the LGBT+ community, offering valuable lessons from each experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), after over a decade of estrangement from several Latin American countries due to its socially costly interventions in the 1980s and 1990s, is now making a return under several lending modalities. This renewed engagement is occurring after the IMF's own internal transformation and rebranding. The critical question is whether the prescribed policies upon the IMF's return will deviate from historical patterns. To address this, we undertake a comprehensive analysis, juxtaposing the Fund's specific conditions (praxis) with its broader policy recommendations (rhetoric) in recent interventions, and employing text mining analysis and a customized dictionary tailored to IMF technocratic discourse. Findings reveal a significant evolution in policy advice, introducing socially friendly approaches while retaining orthodox measures. This study contributes to the broader discussion on IMF continuity, highlighting nuanced shifts and potential inconsistencies between IMF discourse and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the growing financing needs, and the consequent deterioration of public finances in many countries have created a propitious scenario for the return of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to Latin America after almost a decade and a half of their estrangement. This paper aims at analyzing the relationship between the organization and the region in the context of the coronavirus. We seek to understand to what extent their renewed relations will mirror the IMF's "old- fashioned" preferences that have characterized its interventions during the last two decades of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. For this purpose, we first examine the Fund's official position, reflected in its flagship publications. We affirm that the institution, in its discourse, is increasingly permissive with the use of fiscal stimulus and the State's leading role in crisis resolution. Second, we confront the IMF's rhetoric with its practices, reflected in conditionality and policy recommendations contained in specific agreements signed with Latin American countries in the context of the current crisis. We conclude that the orthodox approach persists in the IMF's practices, but is accompanied by growing adaptive changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]