Arrival Of New Year 2021

There is no doubt that every one of us believes that the year 2020 was unusually bad, right from the start. It started with the outbreak of COVID-19 which soon engulfed the whole world. This deadly virus infected millions of people all over the world. So many people died due to the infection of this virus. It forced most of the countries to enforce lockdown as there was no ready treatment available for this virus. It inturn badly affected the economies of the nations all over the world. It brought miseries to the people all over the world. Many people either lost their jobs or the means of livelihood. World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the COVID-19 a global health emergency. 2020 has been of year of unrelenting challenges, of untold sadness and wretchedness. It’s been a year that continues to wreak havoc. It’s certainly not easy being positive in the face of such misery, but this nightmare will one day end. It won’t be any time soon but it will end. 2021 has arrived, whenever a new year begins, we develop immense hope and expectations from the year. We hope and pray that this year will bring us better opportunities and endless possibilities. We finally have left this dreadful 2020 behind! This year was stacked with natural and man-made disasters, economic and mental collapse, bleeding healthcare and the untimely and unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands. No wonder we are all waiting for the year to end and find some peace of mind that it will all be over soon – and that 2021 will be better. And hope, indeed, is what we have. Because throughout 2020, amazing advances have given hope that rose in science, technology, digital health, leadership and in basic human care and kindness. We each have a choice on how to create 2021. We can choose to live the same way we did last year or with a conscious decision to awaken our Inner Light and focus on our True Selves.
Hope In Humanity: Humanity clearly showed its strengths throughout the difficulties. Random people helping each other in difficult times and those struggling with challenges. This unprecedented wave of giving gives us hope that the future can be somewhat brighter than the past, and let’s not forget we’ll need this when the next challenge arises. We all know of our global interdependence, a knowledge we should build and also rely on.
Hope In Healthcare: We have now realized the importance of our healthcare systems. Before the crisis there was already a huge burden on healthcare and it sure wasn’t high on the list of priorities by governments.
Now it is time to focus on Healthcare: We need to realize that health is an investment in the future. Countries invest heavily in amassing of deadly weapons, but not against the attack of a virus, which was far more deadly and far more damaging economically and socially. A pandemic brought economies and nations to their knees and that is why health security cannot be a matter for ministries of health alone. All the challenges in this list demand a response from more than just the health sector. We face shared threats and we have a shared responsibility to act. This means advocating for national funding to address gaps in health systems and health infrastructure, as well as providing support to the most vulnerable countries. Investing now will save lives – and money – later. The cost of doing nothing is one we cannot afford. Governments, communities, and international agencies must work together to achieve these critical goals. There are no shortcuts to a healthier world. Today, decision-makers have realized that no society can live without well-operating healthcare. Maybe we needed a global stressful event that is a warning big enough for us to notice. It is because the real crisis of our lifetime is the impending climate catastrophe. And once again, science will be the tool and the solution that can save us. We are now armed with knowledge, understanding, and hard lessons learned from this past year. 2021 will be filled with new opportunities and challenges. As internal medicine physicians, we will have much work to do. Let us all work together to create kindness, understanding, and healing in the world. As is said: “Fight for the things you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
(The author is a teacher at School Education Department @ Govt High School Brakpora. Views are his own) [email protected]