Restore ecological equilibrium for healthier planet

It is an occasion to remind humanity to not only maintain personal hygiene at a basic level but also to not tamper with nature and its ecosystem for sustainable and healthy living of every creature on the planet. It is also an occasion to recollect the important role being played by the medical professionals including nurses, who are WHO’s special focus this year, in treating COVID-19 patients. In spite of the rapid scientific and medical advancements, the pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, a tiny microbe, has shown how vulnerable and helpless homo sapiens are, even as scientists across the globe are racing against time to save lives by finding an appropriate cure for the severely afflicted and develop a preventive vaccine.

The deadly virus does not distinguish between a prince and a pauper or recognise any distinctions of regions or religions. It continues to shake the world as country after country announced lockdowns and closed borders to prevent transmission. It is not only ironical but also a bit surreal that while World Wide Web (WWW) opened up the world and connected people like never before, the worldwide-virus has forced nations to close boundaries and socially distance its populations.

These are testing times for humanity. After we emerge from this battle and try to come to terms with the altered realities of economic recession and massive disruption in individual lives, there will be a moment to analyse, ponder and seek a solution to the conundrum: Can such catastrophic events be prevented? There will be time to raise questions on our development model and the fragility of our ecosystem and unsustainability of our production-consumption patterns. We may be left wondering if it is true, as some thinkers are arguing, that man’s greed in destroying the habitats of other species is triggering such catastrophic consequences.

The pandemic is bringing into sharp focus the distortions in the ecological equilibrium. Ancient Indian vision can be a timely reminder to respect and restore this balance. More than 2,000 years ago, the ancient Vedic sages had espoused a world view that gave equal importance to all living creatures. In the Rig Veda, one finds the following Sanskrit hymn:

The sage prays for the welfare of all beings. He prays that plants, especially medicinal herbs should grow in plenty so all diseases may be cured and we live a healthy life. He hopes that the gods will rain peace on us and all two-legged creatures as well as four-legged creatures would be happy. The sage concludes with the prayer that there should be peace in the hearts of all beings in all realms. This prayer epitomises the essential vision of ancient India that accorded reverential importance to nature and underscored the need for harmonious co-existence of all living creatures. Nature worship is part of our culture as manifestation of divinity is seen in all elements, including plants and animals. Preservation of environment and maintaining ecological balance has been an age-old tradition.

The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, had aptly observed: “I bow my head in reverence to our ancestors for their sense of the beautiful in nature and for their foresight in investing beautiful manifestations of Nature with a religious significance.” It is time for all Indians and every global citizen to become pro-active warriors in the cause for protection of nature so that the planet, people and all other living creatures remain healthy and enjoy a harmonious existence. The air we breathe and the water we drink should be clean. We should conserve soil and plant wealth and other natural resources.

The improvement in air quality in the wake of the lockdowns and the reports of wild animals wandering into urban spaces illustrates the extent to which humans have caused disruption to nature. Perhaps,it is a reminder to man to live in harmony with nature. In the Indian world view, our prayers have been for maintaining this harmony not only on the earth, but also in the sky and space, as the following Vedic verse succinctly suggests:

(Peace is in the sky and space; Peace is on the Earth; Peace is in water; Peace is in plants; Peace is in trees; Peace is in gods presiding over various elements of nature; Peace is in our consciousness; Peace is pervading everywhere; Peace outside and Peace within. May you have that peace which makes your life fulfilled). 

India has achieved significant progress on various health indices since Independence and eliminated infectious diseases like Yaws, small pox, guinea worm disease and polio. The average life expectancy has increased to 69 years and India’s disease burden due to communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases has dropped from 61% to 33% between 1990 and 2016.

Lifestyle changes over the years have led to an increase in non-communicable diseases. A few years ago, WHO data attributed 61 pc of all deaths in India to NCDs like heart disorders, cancer and diabetes. There is a need to arrest this worrisome trend by mounting a massive national campaign on the importance of adopting healthy lifestyle by shunning sedentary living and avoiding junk food, among others.

Awareness has to be created from a young age by promoting yoga and meditation as also healthy dietary habits. These aspects should become part of school curriculum and bodies like Indian Medical Association and medical institutions should take the lead in educating people, while media has to play a more pro-active role in disseminating information to the masses.

Another issue is the need to take special care of senior citizens and the elderly, especially in context of the present pandemic as they are the most vulnerable to contract the disease. With glaring urban-rural gap in health infrastructure in the country, COVID-19 has underscored the need for greater public health investment. We must treat this as a wakeup call. The flagship scheme ‘Ayushman Bharat’ seeks to address this problem to some extent by providing health insurance coverage to over 50 cr beneficiaries and delivering comprehensive primary healthcare through 1.5 lakh health and wellness centres.

We must pay attention to both the preventive and curative aspects of public health. We must address lifestyle issues and look for holistic solutions. This global pandemic has made the whole world to once again look at the inexorable interconnection between man and nature. We need to recognize that we share this planet with plants, birds and animals and other living organisms. We need to understand the dynamics of this interaction and adopt what WHO has termed a “One Health’’ concept that adopts a multidisciplinary approach to attain optimal health for people, animals, plants and environment. To achieve optimal health outcomes, it seeks to bring together multiple sectors and combine expertise of health professionals, biologists, veterinarians, virologist, and ecologists, among others, in designing policies and programmes.

Ours is one world. It is one intensely interconnected, interdependent planet. We must protect its balance so that we can lead healthier lives. We must combine knowledge with wisdom. We must act in unison to create a safer planet with improved health outcomes of the people, plants and animals, while protecting the environment.