The world is going through a crisis which seems very unusual as all the countries are being affected and struggling to face this unseen enemy at this point. We are talking about corona virus pandemic which has already affected at least a million people and killed almost 50 thousand people; a catastrophe that can only be compared with the combined impact of World War II. There is no medication or vaccination available to deal with corona virus as of today, therefore, the only way out is to prevent this disease by adopting positive behaviour and hygiene practice.
The Bangladesh Post recently interviewed Shamim Ahmed, a doctoral researcher on social and behavioural health sciences at the University of Toronto, Canada. He is an expert on behavioural science and evaluates human psychology based on social determinants of health. He has been closely observing the social and ecological aspects of coronavirus and its possible impact on human behaviour.
BP: What concerns you the most about corona virus? Shamim Ahmed: Corona virus is not only a disease but a global threat to humanity which is very unusual to most of us. We were no way prepared to deal with something like this, and now struggling to develop a vaccine that can be effective in treating corona virus patients all around the globe. Unfortunately, there is no such hope of a vaccine that can be instrumental right at this moment and therefore, people are worried, at times, even terrified. However, I am really concerned about the way we are dealing with this crisis and not properly disseminating messages which might be crucial.
BP: Can you elaborate further on this?
Shamim Ahmed: Sure. Let’s talk about the elderly population who are mostly susceptible to this virus. People who are 60 years or older are mostly being affected and the rate of mortality is highest among them too. However, not many of us are looking at this problem from a holistic approach. This is true that the older people are at risk, but we also need to think about comorbidity as a significant factor. Age, combined with pre-existing illness such as: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease and hypertension could be very dangerous for surviving against corona virus. Consequently, we are asking people to stay at home, but not advising them to continue physical exercise and keeping diabetes, hypertension etc. under control.
BP: Should younger population be relaxed and not worry about the consequences?
Shamim Ahmed: Everyone needs to be cautious and careful about corona virus. Although it mostly kills older people, it can affect anyone of any age. Not only that, young people with corona virus may not be affected as bad as the older population, but they can transmit the virus to others who are at risk and may cause severe harm. In addition to that we have seen cases where young and healthy people developing a severe form of pneumonia after getting infected by corona virus. The reason behind this is yet to be investigated, but it indicates everyone needs to be careful.
BP: You often talk about the importance of social and behavioural components of public health. What are the impacts of behavioural science in dealing with corona virus?
Shamim Ahmed: Think about the initial chaos we have observed among people. ‘Panic buying’ is an indication how people can react when they do not know about a pandemic very well. People do not just buy because they need to buy and store, but they try to follow the people in their society and do whatever everyone else is doing. We also know that the definition of society has been changed. We not only live in a physical society anymore, we also have a social media based society, where information is rigged and twisted, people are confused and muddles seeing what their social neighbours are doing and that is how they go for panic buying. Moreover, you will see there is plenty of information about how to deal with corona virus which are not accurate. People know that they should only follow trusted sources, such as World Health organization (WHO) or Center for Disease Control (CDC), but still they are panicked and try out any information that is available around them.
In a situation like this, which might cause panic, and we cannot blame people unless we are giving them enough information which is authentic. For example, we have recently seen that people have fled to their villages where government announced a public holiday without detail and repeated communication about the purpose of the holiday. Nevertheless, instead of “public holiday”, government should have used the term “lock down” so that people could understand the significance of not moving around. Providing the most important information in a way that is commonly understood is very important. We have also seen people are going out for social or religious purposes as there was no plan from anyone to communicate with the religious leaders properly so that they could have motivated people to follow instructions which are not conflicting to their religious belief.
BP: People are worried about losing job and income, and many people are coming forward to help them out. How do you think it’s working?
Shamim Ahmed: Despite our limited capacity, Bangladeshis always come forward to help each other. We have seen this at times of all our natural calamities or social movements. People work together to help the ones are in utmost need. The current situation is no exception. People are coming up with individual as well social initiative to help poor and deprived people. However, from emotional drive they are providing some of the materials which are not very much needed at this moment. Distributing masks, gowns or hand sanitizers are not what poor people need. They need food and shelter, house rent and social acceptance during this critical moment. We need to inform our friends and families that soaps are more effective than sanitizers or liquid hand wash is less sustainable than a bar of soap for people who lives in utmost poverty. We need to aware people about providing food or cash following a safe procedure so that none gets affected by any possible contamination.
BP: What is your advice for our readers for the coming days?
Shamim Ahmed: I anticipate this home quarantine or lock down situation might prevail longer than we anticipated. People are stuck at home, they miss social gatherings, government has already cancelled Bengali New Year celebration and other events in the coming weeks. Therefore, people may feel deprived, frustrated, stressed and eventually depressed. I would request everyone to spend family time when they can. This is a very good opportunity to have lunch and dinner as a family, get to know each other better and share their feeling and stand with each other at this difficult time. Children can go through a difficult time and the seniors need to have conversation with them, play with them, probably watch a movie and even go to the rooftop and do some exercise when it is not crowded and safe to do so by maintaining two meters distance between each other. Mental health is something that we should be careful about and we should keep ourselves accompanied and supporting one another strongly at this critical time.
BP: What one thing you would suggest the government to follow?
Shamim Ahmed: During any national crisis the most harmful thing for a nation is to mistrust each other, and mistrust can grow following “denial” and “rumour”. We all know we are a poor country and we have limitations. We do not mind that and are happy to work together with our government. Government should be very strict and follow zero tolerance against any “rumour” that is harmful for the citizens who are already at a vulnerable mental state.
But we all should also be positive as a nation. We have faced many challenges, and we shall overcome this one too.
BP: Thank you for your time.
Shamim Ahmed: Thank you and stay safe.
Shamim Ahmed is a social and behavioural health scientist and can be reached at shamimjitu.ahmed@mail.utoronto.ca
