Society: A more responsible approach.

Not only has the rapid spread of the coronavirus engulfed the entire world, it has posed a tremendous challenge to healthcare providers and health policymakers. It has also exposed the criminal disparity between expending on health and so-called 'national security' in both developing and developed countries, somewhat creating a health vs defence scenario.

The current situation certainly poses a threat to many countries, where the options available to governments are slim, to make decisions to save lives as well as the economy. It is not as simple a decision as is often perceived, particularly for planners in Pakistan.

The Covid-19 virus arrived in Pakistan in March after first appearing in Wuhan, China, in December last year and spreading exponentially in China and the world over. But despite having almost four months to study and prepare for it, the response of our prime minster was rather nonchalant and pacifying - there is nothing to worry about, he told us, because it is as simple as the flu. That statement overshadowed all advised and precautionary measures developed by that time, i.e. to stay home, to wear masks, to ensure social distancing, and repeatedly to wash hands and use the lesser-known sanitiser.

Such a sudden change in our everyday life and our behaviour was unconsciously resisted by the masses because of three main factors: denial, ignorance or religiosity. Our ability to perceive a threat / danger is, in fact, a process that runs in the following manner: information is assessed at a cognitive level (appraisal) and, if a threat is recognised as immediately life-threatening, it arouses emotion, which then leads to fight (anger), flight (fear) or apathy (indifference). If the information is not perceived as a serious threat, however, there is only indifference.

Here, we are not even considering the mental state of those in self or forced quarantine. Stress of this magnitude with no end in sight will reveal a kind of disorder not known to classical psychiatry - an advanced kind of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Instead of lax and nonchalant policymaking, a strict enforcement of rules and regulations for controlling the spread of Covid-19 is needed

'Prevention is better than cure' was a revolutionary slogan in the pre-vaccination era. But before it could be elaborated and people learnt to change their habits, inoculation and vaccination came through major medical milestones and the above slogan remained just a slogan. The...