The world has seen many crises that eliminated large populations and also created devastation across the globe. Among these crises, some are created by human beings themselves and some originate naturally. In this write-up, the author focuses on the health crises in particular. From the recorded history the most acute health crises that change the world are as Athens Pandemic in 430: BC, Antoine Plague in 165: AD, Cyprian plague in 250: AD, Justinian Plague in 541 AD, The 11th Century leprosy, the Black Death in 1350, The Columbian exchange in 1492, The great plague of London in 1665, the first cholera pandemic in 1817, the third plague pandemic in 1855, the Fiji Measles Epidemic in1875, the Russian Flu 1889, The Spanish Flu 1918, The Asian Flu 1957, The HIV AIDS 1981, SARS 2003 and the present health crises COVID-19.
The above-mentioned health catastrophes made giant devastation on the planet earth. Besides these health disasters, there are other catastrophes as well which are developed by anthropogenic activities. Consequently, the catastrophes that occur naturally or by human action, eventually the human population becomes its target. Under this progression, the calamity did not see the identity, nationality, religion, rich or poor or borders, but it seeps all that come in the clutch. If we talk about the existing health crisis, COVID-19 has encircled the entire world in a limited time and reached all the habitats of this green planet. It originated in the Wuhan province, China when the first of its cases were reported. Initially, there was very little knowledge about the virus. Later on, this Health calamity has transmuted into a Pandemic and made a huge disruption to the earth. The Pandemic is still on; the entire world used all its energy to control the highly infectious disease. The way the world came into the disorder; all the shades of the human population were greatly affected.
People lost their loved ones, some lost their jobs, and the educated people who lost jobs came on the roads to continue and meet their livelihoods. The concerns of mental health were increased. In poor nations, people die due to the lack of oxygen and lack of beds, especially in the second wave. The students lost their academic years and are still out of Schools. In this Pandemic, the world have also lost the huge elder population who were rich with indigenous (knowledge banks) as the old age people are full of traditional knowledge which they have gained through their experiences.
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NO one has thought a virus that originated from China would change the world in this way. The irony with the human beings they remember these events to a small-time then again they start the normal life and submerged in the materialistic life and this process they forget the death and negative magnitude of these crises. And the priorities that should be addressed by the policymakers are ignored with time, then the next crisis comes on the head, and we start digging the well again. There is a need to make preparations for these incoming disasters and address the concerns that are important or human survival in the long run.
In nation like India, the way COVID-19 has exposed the health infrastructure is not hidden from anyone. How did the people get lost there because of the lack of oxygen and the lack of space in the hospitals? The second thing that we learn from this second wave is that there is an urgent need to make the primary health system strong because the people that are working in the cities are from the villages. And when the states announced a lockdown these people came to their respective villages which resulted from we see the surge of COVID-19 Cases in the villages as well in this second wave. In these villages, many lost their lives due to the lack of proper primary infrastructure.
One more thing, there is a need to develop good infrastructure in the villages and connect the youth with the village for their livelihoods. For this, there is a need to relook the agricultural and other policies and generate sustainable employment avenues in the villages. Educational institutions have an important role, especially the higher education institutions like colleges and universities. These institutions need to train the youth in crisis management. This could be helpful in these types of crises in the future. As we saw in the pandemic, the people and the NGOs came forward and helped the needy people. Hence, when the students were trained in crisis management, this can help in tackling the disaster constructively.
Author can be mailed at Farooqmajeed19@gmail.com
