As Part of Fighting This Pandemic Allay the Fears That People Have About COVID-19
By
Syed Tauleha Tabbasum Bukhari
July 29,
2020
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We are
currently facing a disease (COVID-19) which has been declared as a pandemic and
a global medical emergency by WHO. This pandemic will always live in the
history books for its enormous social, political and economic impacts. This is
not the first time an epidemic or pandemic has appeared in the world. If we go
through history, we find that Epidemic or Pandemic of Plague of Justinian
(541-542), The Black Death (1346-1350), Sixth Cholera Pandemic (1899-1923),
Spanish Flu (1918-1920), Asian Flu (1957-1958), Hong Kong Flu (1968-1969),
Swine Flu (2009-2010) have appeared before COVID-19.
Among all
these, Spanish Flu was the most severe pandemic in history with 100 million
deaths followed by the 14th century’s Black Death with 75 million deaths. Apart
from physical health, mental health is also required to combat such diseases.
If we try to understand from unani point of view, there are three basic factors
for any disease to occur which are;
By
modifying anyone, or all factors through various preventive measures, we can
protect ourselves from diseases. As the ministry of health is repeatedly
issuing guidelines and warnings regarding the spread and prevention of
COVID-19.
For
example, we can reduce the strength of the cause by using facial masks and PPE,
similarly we can decrease the susceptibility through consumption of various
immunomodulators.
But at the
same time, it is important to take various steps to allay the fear that people
have about this disease. Because of the fear of quarantine, it has been
observed in most of the areas that people do not get tested despite the
appearance of symptoms and cause the disease to spread further.
However,
80% of COVID cases were either asymptomatic or developed only mild symptoms.
Also, the mortality rate in India and worldwide is approx. 3% & 6%
respectively which is far less than other epidemics in history. Studies have
shown that even in normal conditions, people who suffer from any kind of mental
illness (e.g. Depression, Anxiety, Fear of death) have lower life expectancy
and physical fitness. Therefore, such people are at higher risk for contacting
COVID-19 as well. People are so terrified of this disease that everyone thinks
about it as the end of the world.
Due to this
fear, a man committed suicide in Delhi a few days back just because of
impending fear that his COVID-19 test might come positive. Not only ordinary
people, healthcare workers and doctors are also being affected by this anxiety.
Because of this whole situation, people are stockpiling a lot of goods, which
is adversely affecting the poor and depriving them of even essentials
commodities.
In addition
to all of the above causes, our treatment system also plays an important role
in creating this panic situation. To fight against this pandemic, we should not
rely on a single system of medicine as there is no definite cure for it in any
system. So it is very important that all the systems should work together and
take the best steps on their own.
As seen in
the beginning only allopathic practitioners were allowed to handle the COVID
patients and practitioners from alternative medicine were not allowed to
interfere in the treatment. If all the systems of medicine had worked together
from the beginning, the disease would not have spread so far and would have
been checked, may be far more effectively.
We can
prevent mild or moderate cases from turning into severe cases by providing
Antipyretics, Antitussives, Bronchodilators and Antihistaminic drugs at an
early stage. This will significantly reduce the OPD load, rate of
hospitalization, need for Positive Pressure Ventilation (PPV) and Mechanical
Ventilation in all COVID hospitals. As a result, treatment and diagnostic tests
will be readily available to those who are in severe conditions, and really
need all these facilities. It is not easy to test everyone, therefore testing
protocols include only asymptomatic cases with contact or travel history, mild
flu like symptoms in high risk areas and patients with severe acute respiratory
illness. Just as the Maharashtra government has allowed the AYUSH practitioners
to provide necessary treatment to mild or asymptomatic cases of COVID-19, it is
imperative that other states government should welcome this step as well.
The gist of
all this discussion is that in order to fight this pandemic, it is important to
protect our health through all the medical advices and various preventive
measures without being panicked.
Syed
Tauleha Tabbasum Bukhari Research Scholar National Institute of Unani
Medicine (MD Unani NIUM).
Original
Headline: COVID-19: Panic, more than
threat
Source: The Greater Kashmir
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/as-part-fighting-this-pandemic/d/122489