SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2024
Joe D’Souza
India today is under health challenges and the growing economic crisis. Not only are the people facing the struggle to battle the pressures of staying healthy and strong to face the challenges often posed by the society, by Mother Nature, but also by man’s working against the forces of Mother Nature in the pseudo garb of economic development of our society.
As we battle to control the ill effects of Covid-19 and other challenges of comorbidities, I feel acutely distressed that we in the battle against Covid-19 have to also meet the struggle posed by economic stress due to job losses and growing unemployment in our society. Covid-19 has not spared or discriminated our people from natural justice system. However, simple it may seem to be, Covid-19 has been a great leveller and its ill-effects are clearly visible all across the Goan society. It is extremely painful, mentally challenging, that I have personally suffered loss of my younger relative which also includes medical professionals.
The challenges of Covid-19 have grown manifold due to the fact that the strain of the RNA viruses involved in the disease are constantly mutating and have not only foxed our scientists but also the frontline COVID-19 warriors, who work on the ground to take control and meet the challenges of mutations which is extremely tiresome and risky.
As a bedridden victim of diabetes with my toes amputated, I finally know the ill-effects posed by diabetes and address the challenges of infectious disease in our society. In the pursuit of fast economic growth, we have neglected the need to keep our people fit and healthy. It promotes the malfunctioning of the physiological processes in our body and silently damages the organs.
We all know about the growing kidney failures and the growing number of patients in Goa who have to undergo regular dialysis as a result of kidney malfunction and growing stress in our society. The scientific community is not in one voice over the growing disability effects of diabetes. There are various types and kinds of diabetes. We often see Type I diabetes acquired at birth with insulin, playing no role in its promotion and growth.
By and large Type II diabetes, now in over 60 million victims the world over, has not only affected the physiology but the economic losses to the nature is worrisome too. Covid-19 may not be treated as an infectious disease with virulent bacteria or other micro-organism releasing toxins and damaging human organs and physiology but this baffling corona RNA Virus has the innate ability to take over the genetic machinery of our body and use it to produce viral proteins and the genetic machinery necessary to produce the viral particles.
Being presently a diabetic victim, with all my toes amputated, I fully realise where the shoes pinch and hurt the most. Diabetes is not an infectious disease but a physiological malfunctioning of the human body. This is one of the reasons why diabetes is called a silent killer. I was taken by shock and grief when I realised in the hospital that my toes had developed necrotic lesions due to the deteriorating ill effects of diabetes. Having realised late, I had to in grief see my toes being amputated with me being bed-ridden both in the hospital and at home.
Diabetes is not a singular malfunctioning of human physiology but often a multiple in our body. Most of the society is not the victim of Type I but of Type II diabetes, where the pancreas often does not release insulin, or even we see that the insulin released by the pancreas showing absolutely no positive effect on regulating the release of sugar in the blood.
Diabetes is clearly a silent killer and I was left in grief over a month in hospital with all my toes amputated and in grief for a month in bed.
The Goa government and the Health Minister must take the challenges of diabetes with the seriousness it deserves. As a retired University Professor and a victim of diabetes, I fully know the severe ill effects of diabetes on the physiological malfunctioning but the larger issue of growing kidney diseases and renal failure needs to be taken seriously by our Health Minister. We must together ensure diabetes does not kill the economy of our State as many man hours and days of work are lost due to the fact that patients are either hospitalised or bed-ridden.
It is a sad reality our government has over stressed on economic growth and prosperity and never ever realised and worked to concentrate its energy on growing health concerns.
We see kidney ailments and infectious diseases growing alarmingly in Goa and with jobless youth crying for employment it is of concern as many industries are closing due to lockdown and the shutting up of manufacturing units in Goa particularly due to growing ill-effects of pollution. We often witness respiratory, lung and throat disease growing in Goa, which our government needs to address to on an urgent basis.
Whilst it is okay for the government to focus on Covid-19, the alarming growth of diseases due to the deteriorating environment of Goa, should be dealt with the challenges it truly deserves.
(The writer is a retired University Professor and an environmental activist.)
