WE are all familiar with the conventional saying that “prevention is better than cure”. In these times of uncertainty driven by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and now the Russia- Ukraine conflict which threatens the world with a wider conflagration and has the potential to drag the whole world into a global wide conflict the truth behind this common or folk wisdom becomes even more evident and pertinent.
But first let us understand what the phrase “prevention is better than cure” really means or implies. Put simply, one can say or paraphrase it to mean it is better and easier to stop a problem, illness, unintended effect or consequence from happening than to stop or correct it after it has started.
Take the case of the ongoing pandemic which has ravaged our lives and disrupted our normal existence since 2019. There are two concerns.
Firstly, now it has been declared as endemic but hardly a day passes by when we hear of new COVID strains and, paradoxically, we also hear that the virus is evolving and mutating in a rather intelligent manner as if trying to evade man’s ingenuity in formulating the vaccines that will stop it in its tract. The act or decision to declassify the COVID-19 outbreak from a ‘pandemic’ to the term ‘endemic’ can have the unintended effect of luring people into a sense of complacency.
In fact, on the very first day – April 1 or April Fools’ Day – that the change of terminology has happened we can sadly see the immediate change in behaviour. People easily forget that being endemic does not mean the virus is less virulent than before or that the situation is somehow better or the rate of infection is somehow lowered or the symptoms of the disease are milder and so on.
Secondly, in the current pandemic, we need to be mindful that the successful roll out of the initial vaccination programmes do not have the opposite effect in the long run. People forget a fundamental fact between the role of vaccines and the fact of infection from the disease. The difference is this: Vaccines are effective at preventing the severe effects of the disease from a COVID-19 infection, but they are less effective at preventing infection.
Let me say that again, vaccines do not stop you from getting infected, they only help you to mitigate the effects of the disease should you be infected. People tend to forget this subtle but very important difference. The failure to understand the difference often leads to different and undesirable behaviours.
For example, once someone is vaccinated, the tendency is to think that he or she will not catch the virus. He or she becomes less careful in terms of social interactions, often ignoring the recommended SOPs (standard operating procedures) and consciously or unwittingly breaking these in their daily activities and interactions.
A sense of invulnerability and false sense of safety from infection inadvertently creeps in. Due to the declared endemicity of the disease and the vaccination rollout, caution is thrown to the winds. We can all quote anecdotal evidence of this from our own observation, daily interaction and experience.
The opposite is actually true, the fact that one will tend to cast aside the recommendations on keeping the social distancing, wearing of masks, sanitising of the hands, keeping the environment sanitised and clean, avoiding confined or crowded spaces, and so on, actually increases the chances of getting infected, even if one is already vaccinated two, three or even four times.
Get this right – vaccines does not prevent you from getting infected by the COVID-19 virus in all its variants. Only following the recommended or standard operating procedures (SOPs) will. These SOPs are real preventive measures which are often revised and improved by the authorities from time to time to ensure their efficacy and effectiveness and to suit the prevailing circumstances. Follow them.
Vaccines only help you to manage the effects of an infection should you be infected. Vaccines do not prevent you from getting infected. Vaccines only significantly increase protection from the symptomatic disease caused by the virus, but not prevent you from catching it. Understand the difference.
So practise prevention as a way of life. As the old saying goes, prevention is better than cure.
Understand this wise advice and follow it. It would avoid your trip to the hospital and being detained there for treatment after you have been infected. It could save your life.
Talking about visits to hospitals, now that the tendency is for people to take the pandemic lightly, it is logical to anticipate that the cases of infection will rise, maybe even exponentially. Are we ready for that? Are our hospitals which have hitherto been stretched to the limits ready for the next wave which could be even a bigger one?
Those are valid concerns and questions needing answers. Our doctors and health workers, and other front liners, who have done a splendid job, have been badly stretched since 2019. They may be at the risk of suffering from fatigue and burnout. Our hearts and thankfulness goes to them.
Like the common cold, now that the COVID-19 has been declared as endemic it means that it had been accepted as part of life just like the common cold, or other diseases like cholera, bird flu, yellow fever, typhoid, malaria, dengue and so on.
As just like those diseases, to not fall as a victim to them is through practising prevention. For example, avoiding the situations and circumstances where one is vulnerable to catching cold is the best medicine for cold. The same for COVID, malaria, and the other diseases mentioned above. As the adage wisely counsel, prevention is indeed better than cure.
Coming to the second issue raised at the outset, namely the Russia-Ukraine conflict which threatens to draw in a wider involvement in the conflict beyond the immediate protagonists. Could this have been prevented or what are the prevention measures that should have been taken to stop the war from erupting?
Obviously, self-restrain on the part of all parties from resorting to violence as a means to solve their conflicts and to put diplomacy and peace talks as the priority for resolving their differences and to avoid open and armed conflict is a no brainer – if there was sincere intention to find a peaceful solution.
It’s difficult to see this would happen. Not when talks of tactical use of nuclear bombs are being reported, or wider mobilisation of forces and equipment is being pursued and sent to the battle front in Ukraine.
The United Nation seems to be powerless and inept and the voice of reason and diplomacy is muted. The UN Security Council has not met to discuss the conflict. Does that mean that the UN is now irrelevant or the beginning of its ending is surely emerging?
The Non-Aligned Movement is curiously silent, as are the other organisations like OIC (Organisation of Islamic Countries). Have the world degenerated to such low depths that we are now bereft of true leadership at the global level?
The situation is very dangerous and worrying.
The opportunity to prevent the conflict from escalating further is fast disappearing. No wonder, the Doomsday Clock is just 100 seconds to midnight or, now that open conflict has erupted, maybe even less.
The hand of the clock is ticking away and those 100 seconds are reducing fast and furiously. We need true leadership to emerge to save humankind from itself.
We have all heard of psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the framework for his motivational theory in psychology which comprises a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid.
According to Maslow, from the bottom of the hierarchy upwards, the needs are: physiological (food and clothing), safety (job security), love and belonging needs (friendship), esteem, and self-actualization.
Maslow said that the needs lower down in the hierarchy must be satisfied first before individuals can attend to needs higher up the hierarchy. In a war situation, the first to be affected may likely be the human beings’ physiological needs for food, water, clothing, shelter, and sleep, plus obviously physical safety and mental health. What measures need to be put in place? How do we ensure food and water supply security, for example?
With Ukraine and parts of Russia as amongst the few bread baskets of the world, how do we prevent disruption of the grain and food supplies? With Russia’s reported ban on exports of sunflower seeds from Friday (April 1) until the end of August and imposition of an export quota on sunflower oil will lead to shortage of such commodities worldwide?
On the other hand, it has been reported that Ukraine’s government has banned the export of wheat, oats and other staples that are crucial to the global food supply chain and sources. For food importing countries like Malaysia, these are disconcerting developments for which we may not have been ready or well prepared for.
Malaysia is highly dependent on food imports, which in 2020 amounted to a record-setting RM55.5 billion. As an import-dependent country, food security has been an important topic for many years. This risk has increased as a result of the current COVID-19 health emergency, and now we have a potential widespread conflict in the making.
What will you do tomorrow if you are simply unable to buy the food item that you take for granted as being available at your favourite corner grocery store or at the neighbourhood wet market or pasar malam? Or even if they are available, but at a price you cannot afford?
The concept of food security includes not just the availability of the food but also the affordability of it to the general population.
Looking ahead, food security will become even more urgent in the face of a future of inevitable climatic, environmental, and health-related shocks. We have to prevent or mitigate the consequences of these events from becoming a reality. And to take action now.
Long-term and sustainable measures and solutions need to be put in place. One obvious answer is to reactivate and revitalise our traditional rice bowls in Perak and Kedah and open up new ones in other states, including Sabah and Sarawak.
Domestic production of food needs renewed focus and urgency. Loss of traditional agricultural lands to urbanisation and so called ‘development’ need to be monitored.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
