Today [7thApril] is World Health Day. This year’s observation of the Day has heightened significance as the whole world is combating the deadly coronavirus. It was only on Sunday that the nation heeded to the appeal of our Prime Minister and at 9PM, for 9 minutes switched off lights in homes and lit candles, ‘diyas’ and switched on mobile torches. There was an overwhelming response and we witnessed the Deepawali illumination in April. This was the second instalment of a nation in unison highlighting people’s resolve to be united in their determination to fight the deadly virus despite the usual dissenting voices. It is another matter that people in some areas, including where I stay in Delhi, in their over enthusiasm added the sounds of Diwali also, bursting crackers and raising slogans. Fortunately, everyone, with the exception of some in-disciplined ones, is following the lockout norms which hopefully would yield the desired results.
You would recall that on Sunday, 22nd March, the Prime Minister had asked the nation to observe a ‘Janata Curfew’ from 7AM to 9PM and that Indians should assemble at their windows or on their balconies and clap their hands, ring bells or beat vessels to send a clamorous message of appreciation towards all the professionals- nurses, doctors, cleaners, transport workers, police personnel and others who are in the frontline of the country’s fight against the corona pandemic.
That move seems to be like a prelude to World Health Day with the theme, ‘’Support Nurses and Midwives”. According to the World Health Organization [WHO], the Day has been observed from 1950 aimed to create awareness of a specific theme to highlight a priority area of concern for the WHO. WHO in their introduction to this year’s observance states, ”This World Health Day, we honour the contribution of nurses and midwives, recognizing their vital role in keeping the world healthy. Nurses and other workers are at the frontline of COVID-19 response, putting their own health at risk to protect the broader community comprising more than two-thirds of the health workforce”. 2020 , therefore is celebrated as International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife and “the World Health Day is an opportunity to highlight the work of nursing and midwifery around the world, while celebrating this workforce as one of the most valuable resources of every country”.
We have been hearing how our own nurses are almost sacrificially volunteering to look after corona affected people. Some of them have contracted the disease and it is a difficult profession. Till very recently, nurses were poorly paid and exploited by many private hospitals. There were reports of long strikes by nurses in Delhi and elsewhere and it was after that they were given living wages. There has been large scale migration of Indian nurses to the US, Europe and the Middle East for far more attractive wages.
Nurses in the government sector in India now have better salary scales. Their work schedules are tough and in times like coronavirus pandemic, life can be tough and fraught with the danger of infection. There was a newspaper headline today [7th April ] that 57 nurses have been infected in Mumbai and Delhi.
After the spread of the corona pandemic the government of India has recognized the dangers the nurses and others in the health sector face. So when the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a relief package of Rs.1,70,000 crore to help those affected by the situation, she also announced that there will be a special insurance cover for those working in the health sector for three months. A government press release following the announcement of the package on 26thMarch, 2020 stated, “Safai Karmacharis, ward boys, nurses, paramedics, technicians, doctors and specialists and other health [workers]would be covered by a special insurance scheme. Any health professional who while treating Covid-19 patients meets with some accident, then he/she would be compensated with an amount of Rs.50 lakh under the scheme”.
While the government and the nation at large have applauded and honoured the nurses and the health workers including doctors at the ground level, they are facing much indignities according to media reports. Lack of understanding of the seminal contribution of the health professionals, sometimes endangering their own lives with inadequate facilities. Those who indulge in such heinous acts lack empathy, ignorance and outdated attitudes lead to such ignominious behaviours. They deserve the most stringent punishments. The shocking stories from across the country are nothing short of a national shame at a time when the entire health community is facing the daunting task of fighting the coronavirus scourge. I am therefore avoiding them.
As the whole nation and the world is focused on a relentless war on the deadly coronavirus, there are certain aspects of the problem that ought to be considered. WHO has updated the organization’s own terminologies from time to time.The term ‘social distancing’ was first used in the context of the coronavirus, academics, medical professionals and social activists have been discussing the term ‘social distancing’, which has gained currency and acceptability. But is it the most appropriate term in the Indian context? Many of them think that it should be physical distancing and not social distancing.
What in fact is the difference between social distance and physical distance? There are plenty of academic definitions of the two terms. Social distance is described as “the distance between different groups in society such as social class, race/ethnicity, gender or sexuality. Different groups mix less than members of the same group. It is the measure of the nearness or intimacy that an individual or group feels towards another individual or group in a social network or the level of trust one group has for another and the extent of perceived likeness or beliefs.”[Boguna].
Prof. Sanjai Bhatt, Delhi University’s Professor, Department of Social Work and President of National Association of Professional Social Workers in India [NAPSWI] in his blog on Nada India’s radioclubindia.blogspot writes…” Social distancing is not an appropriate term to describe the context in which it is being currently used as it consists of two contradictory words. While the meaning of social is related to society or organization or needing companionship and best suited to living in communities [used as adjective] the word distancing has its origin in the Latin word distare, distance meaning standing apart. Both words in social distancing are contradictory in meaning, and really not meant for the purpose it is used. However, the word social has its many more meanings which is related to relationship”.
The question is, in our social context terms like social distancing, which is used in public health documents and even guidelines, I am afraid, is not an ‘inclusive’ term. Haven’t we for centuries practiced social distancing of the socially underprivileged and down - trodden? Dr. Mathew Varghese, renowned orthopaedic surgeon, who runs India’s only Polio Ward in Delhi’s St. Stephen’s Hospital who was called as one of the five ‘’Heroes saving the world ”by Microsoft- founder and philanthropist Bill Gates who inspires him, knows the conditions of our poor in our urban slums. In a short article in the Quint, Dr. Mathew Varghese writes, “I have been increasingly worried about the use of the term ‘social distancing’. This has been my concern from day one of COVID-19 epidemic guidelines.……….What was needed was to recommend ‘human distancing’ or even increasing ‘man-to-man spacing’. Even ‘Human distancing’ in poor families is impossible at homes where 8 to 10 sleep on the floor in the ‘Jhuggis’ that they ‘exist in. You can’t call their existential space as rooms or as houses as they use a small covered area for living, sleeping, toileting and cooking all rolled into one. Human distancing at a community level is also not possible for them in the slums they live in. All these years no one cared to look at how these people live and how the health system, especially the Public health system was systematically destroyed”.
WHO on 18th March, in their guidelines had asked the affected nations to “maintain social distancing- to maintain at least one metre [3 feet] distance between you and anyone who is coughing or sneezing. This is because when someone coughs or sneezes, they spray small liquid droplets from their nose or mouth which may contain virus. If you are too close you can breathe in the droplets including the COVID-19 if the person coughing has the disease.”
But on 20th March in a press briefing the WHO spokesperson said, “You may have heard us use the phrase physical distancing instead of social distancing. Technology right now has allowed so greatly that we can keep connected in many ways without actually physically being in the same room or physically being in the same space with people.” So, WHO while affirming that they want people to remain connected, has officially changed from ‘social distancing’ to ‘physical distancing’.
Our government pronouncements and the media, despite stressing on connecting, however have not changed the term to physical distancing in place of social distancing.
Source: https://www.pennews.net/opinion/2020/04/07/honouring-health-workers-in-times-of-coronavirus
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