Concerted Actions to Mitigate the Pandemic

By Dr. Arvind Kumar, President, India Water Foundation

The Coronavirus pandemic is the most challenging crisis the world has faced since World War II with unprecedented threat to humanity, paralleled consequences of economic recession, social tensions and psychological health crisis. In fact, it's a human crisis with growing instability and devastating socio-economic unrest. Today, we stand united to garner emotional strength to tackle its profound consequences by responding to the emergency and recover from the socio-economic shock. We are facing a tough situation, radical choices to hear the million voices with a global picture of the COVID-19 invasion seriously grim. According to the UN International Labour Organisation, five to 25 million jobs will be eradicated while UNESCO forecast that 1.5 billion students out of school. In Asia and the Pacific, the impacts of the pandemic have reverberated soundly among its population of more than 4 billion and in its network of vital supply chains. In India with more than 90% of the workforce in the unorganized sector especially for casual laborers or gig workers who earn on a daily basis, the lockdown is both an immediate health risk and an economic catastrophe. Are we prepared to handle the psychological stress of humanity in the post COVID-19 world?

The government’s graded response under our Hon’ble Prime Minister’s

stewardship witnessed through ‘Junta Curfew’ or the 21 day nation-wide lock down is an acknowledgment of his leadership. He has reassured Indians and the global world that ‘Let’s collectively fight the deadly pandemic’. But as of now, coordinated response is needed at multiple levels to build capacities first to fight the parallel challenges. Health care paradigms and socio-economic priorities are significant right now, especially for the most vulnerable sections of society. The fight against the pandemic must encompass the optimistic realization of SDGs since every 17 SDG is interlinked. A proactive and sustainable strategy that scales up pandemic preparedness, ‘test-trace-isolate-quarantine strategy’, capacity building of various stakeholders and strengthening resilience & recovery is the need of the hour to combat the Health emergency. Let us Prepare, Cope and Recover and effectively address the gigantic challenge to "leave no one behind”.

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