Why Are We Ignoring Other Diseases Due To The Coronavirus? Other Issues Are As Real As The Pandemic!

Dying because of Coronavirus is not a heroic move, there are people are dying of other diseases and no attention is being paid to them.

Since the onset of this pandemic, the whole world is looking for the cause and effect relationship between the patient and the virus. It has been six months and we have failed to find the vaccine for it. The whole world has come to a standstill, people have lost their jobs and the world economy is about to crash. When all this is happening, how can we even think that the people sitting in their homes are alright? Is the world hyping this virus way too much?

Other diseases are being neglected and hospitals are just operating for the coronavirus. What about the people who are suffering from other dangerous diseases but are not able to go to the hospitals because the hospitals are only operating for the COVID-19.

The lockdown was announced and 36 states and territories were shut down. Most doctors have agreed that this was a necessary step but it is also very painful. The after-effects of this lockdown will be very harmful. A few days ago, there was a shortage in the supply of milk, medicines, and vegetables in a few states. All the situations are extremely new to the people living in urban areas. And this occurred because of the breakage in the supply chain. How will people tackle all these issues? There are end number of issues like this that come together with the pandemic but the government fails to look into them. The hype about the coronavirus is justified but what about all the issues coming with that? Why are we not looking at the whole package and just the main element in it?

The economic consequences of this lockdown will be massive. They will be immensely painful and will be colossal. 27 million Indians lost their jobs in April. The unemployment rate is at its highest.
There are few patients who are suffering from deadly diseases like cancer, anxiety, depression. These diseases require constant care and visit to the doctor. Due to the pandemic none of this can be done. Even if the hospitals are open, the patients refuse to go because of the fear of the virus. Hundreds of people may be dying from the virus but there are thousands who are dying from other illnesses that are not being treated. The mortality rate in India was not very high, due to the virus also it is not at an alarmingly high rate, but we fear that in the near future it will be high because of all the additional factors coming with the virus.

Domestic abuse has been on a search. It is prevalent in rural as well as urban India. Some of the incidents related to domestic abuse are related to excessive consumption of alcohol. And now since alcohol is also available in the markets with a higher tax level, domestic violence cases are on a surge. The government is ignoring all these issues which come with the COVID-19. All these issues cannot be ignored just because there is a big problem lying in our hands. There are other problems which might kill the people if not the virus.

Another major issue is the suicide being committed by the farmers. The farmers weren’t able to harvest their crops, this happened due to lack of labour. Now that produce is lying in their farms and is wilting away. Since that time there land has become not so favorable for other crops. It will take another six months for that land to be fertile again. In situations like these farmers are committing suicide because they do not have any other livelihood to depend on. MGNREGA is found to be inactive throughout various locations. This is a serious issue and needs immediate action in rural India considering that there is a massive loss for the farming and non-farming sector. Since the migrants have gone back to their villages and they do not have any work, this is relief package might be a lifeline for many who are indulged in the non-farm sector in rural India.

The lockdown has led to increase in the social disparities between the people in the country. The poor are getting poorer while the rich are sustaining with their savings. If this continues how will the unified India come out? Increase in the lockdown has caused a lot of disadvantage to the vulnerable population. Implementing public healthcare measures is very difficult in places where there is a lot of crowd of people living in bad conditions. And considering it is India, many places are overcrowded with a lot of people.

Apart from all these basic issues, there are a few hidden issues that are arising out of the lockdown. Various companies have laid off its employees, they have stopped their operations due to lack of revenue. The companies which are sustaining right now are the ones that will sustain later on. At the end of this lockdown there will be a few companies prevalent in the market which will rule the entire sector.

This will lead to monopoly and increase in prices of the commodities as per the wish of the ruler of the market. If the price of the commodities is increased, the poor who do not have any money will not be able to purchase that. This will generate unhealthy competition in the market and will disrupt all the companies which are sick right now. If we look at the example of the biggest telecom sector company, Jio, it is on a surge right now and is inviting various companies for funding and investment opportunities. It is very evident that after the lockdown, Jio plans something big. If the company will flourish after the lockdown, other companies which are not doing so well right now will be next to zero later on. Even in the grocery sector, there are a few grocery brands who could start online delivery of grocery. These brands will continue to flourish later on but those stores which are solely based on the traditional methods and could not expand their horizon right now will fall.

India cannot continue in this situation for too long because at some point in time deaths due to hunger and starvation will outweigh the deaths due to Coronavirus. Mr Narayana Murthy also commented about the same in one of his interviews. If we compare the mortality rate of India with the deaths which are associated with the coronavirus, the hype about the virus does not seem to be real.

The government needs to go deep down into the economics and finance and understand a few factors. They cannot act blind and oblivious to the situation. The tax collections will also be impacted which will result in lower revenues for the government. If there are low revenues for the government, relief packages for the people in the future will be less. This will be during the time and people need the government the most.
Cancer, heart diseases, stroke, lower respiratory infections, and a few more diseases killed more people than the Coronavirus has killed right now. Why are we forgetting all these diseases?

Why are funds being raised in the name of the virus? This is a huge slam for the government which is actually trying to gather as many funds as it can in the name of the virus. A virus is not the time to collect money, it is the time to serve the people. We are clearly seeing how the people are being served. The government must take strict actions now, it is the right time for them to create a good image of themselves after doing good and not just saying good.