MUDASIR AHANGER
ahangermudasir92@gmail.com
Awareness always plays an important role in our life and keeps us up to date in daily life which acts as a main pillar of gaining specific knowledge and information of all kind of issues which are continuously burgeoning, and acquainting us with them from time to time. The health departments at district level must envisage to conduct Health awareness programs in every village for making common people aware of such infectious diseases not only on the going pandemic COVID-19 but also all types of diseases which are highly communicable like HIV, HEPATATIS-B, TYPHOID, CHOLERA, Etcetera. It is at the forefront now as we observe the horrifying situation across the globe that has caused by COVID-19 due to relentlessly grappling with which has put all the countries at stake.The death figures nearly mounted to 341,513 in the world wide and the total number of positive cases confirmed till date is 5,334,675 as per official sources. So, this ensures that it is alarming and life threatening call which largely grabbed the attention of the whole world for major concerns of taking preventive measures. The global eye is focusing on scientists and virologists to take an early initiative for seeking out its special antidote by putting efforts with all hands on deck in order to make a complete grip on increasing the further cases and deaths. As a matter of fact WHO declared Public Heath international Emergency of COVID-19 in the last month when it changed its move to spread from nook and corne. After a couple of weeks they declared it pandemic on 11th March 2020 when it kept spreading and infecting people by breaking all the frontiers and other combating hurdles for invading in other territories. It would be worthwhile to conduct Health awareness programms at village level which comes under a particular jurisdiction so that at least everyone should get familiar with the preventive measures and he/she not to get any fear of epdemics.The common people are not much aware of precautions and specific Health guidelines of these type of epidemics which may help them locally so that they will act upon by taking all these specific prescriptions for saving their lives. I am dumbfounded that why Health administration is in deep slumber paying less attention towards it.
To contain Epidemics effectively it is Sino qua non to uplift Health Awareness
To Conduct such Health programs in the villages will at least make public to get some basic knowledge for their Health related issues in times of need. This is the time that we should apply pragmatic approach rather than to have written health prescriptions for dealing with the patients in hospitals regarding to any disease. It needs a set of induction primarily for transforming key words into actions by conducting Health programs at village levels. We are all witnessed in rural areas by and large that we are lacking in basic amenities that are considered essential services especially in any imminent emergency impending to occur. Health departments should envisage that they have large responsibilities in society for saving life of a common people by giving good treatment and by awakening them properly through certain guidelines pertaining to diseases and preventions whenever it is required. Departments should take an initiative for distributing of masks at village level and other such valuable things that would be helpful for the people in dire need of prevention who are more susceptible to viral infections. If we conduct programs at village level and there will be likely to have less chances of getting diseases which are contagious but needs complete awareness prior they will turn to epidemic to take lives on large scale. There must be a separate team of Health educators who can apprise people and educate them as well. This is true that we have panchayats almost in every village which can play an important role during any such kind of situation, but unfortunately they are not being used for a particular work. Health administration must take some steps for implementing these programs in order to strengthening its role at the village level. It is often saying that prevention is better than cure but awareness is a way where it directs us for prevention. It would be a wonderful work if the health departments take a notice and move on one step forward to draw a holistic sketch with a new tiltle of Health awareness programs in all the villages. Majority of the issues will be sorted out very smoothly if they will commit to implementing it in the villages and indeed there will be minimizing of the burden in the health departments at the district level. As we often see nowadays in hospitals, patients in long queues with pale faces waiting for hours under the blistering sun all day to get a turn for medical prescription. At the block level we have sub centers and PHCs for taking the responsibilities of health and caring of different patients but Health awareness we can’t get from them as they are not Health educators. Eventually we villagers are very anxious about the health issues only because of lacking some awareness.
The author is MSC from Kashmir University.
