Translating Health Risks: Language as a Social Determinant of Health

Abstract

The chapter conceptualizes how translation and interpreting are risk reduction tools that are quintessential aids to reduce health inequity in crises. Following Showstack et al. (Language as a social determinant of health: An applied linguistics perspective on health equity. American Association for Applied Linguistics Newsletter. Retrieved May 29, 2021, from https://www.aaal.org/news/language-as-a-social-determinant-of-health-an-, 2019) the chapter argues for renewed focus on language as a social determinant of health. Treated as a problem, language diversity creates vulnerabilities when it compounds on existing socio-economic inequalities collectively exposing the whole of society in a pandemic. Whether or not the pandemic is one of many of the twenty-first century is irrelevant: the COVID-19 must prompt a scrutiny of cross-communication practices. Reflecting on the significant shortcomings in organizing risk communication before the pandemic, this chapter argues for crisis communication strategies to be developed outside the ‘Western monolingual ideology’, accepting that multilingualism is the norm and planning accordingly.