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(Series - 2, part - 1)

Myanmar and Us

All our failings: habits are resistant to change

Published : Saturday, 8 August, 2020 at 12:00 AM  Count : 623

Myanmar and Us

Myanmar and Us

During the weeks prior to any lockdowns, when people infected with Covid-19 were returning asymptomatic to Bangladesh to spread the disease, it was obvious how the habits and attitudes of the public were facilitating the spread of the virus. Identifying these habits wouldn't have much impeded the transmission of Covid-19 because habits cannot readily change in the short period the government had to prepare after Covid-19 emerged late last year.

As we are now aware, Covid-19 is notoriously difficult to stop because it's so infectious, easily transmitted through the air (via droplets or an aerosol) and from hands touching the face which have been in contact with various contaminated surfaces. Crowded home and neighbourhood conditions are another factor that won't change; however informed a person is about social distancing advisories.

Suspending visa on arrival on 16 March signified one early response by the government to the spread of Covid-19 when Bangladesh had just five detected cases and no deaths. During the ensuing week, I observed the following common scenarios (probably familiar to many)...

Whilst paying a rickshaw driver, he coughed explosively right into my face, with no attempt to deflect his sudden expulsion either sideways or into a part of his arm

On a local Dhaka commuter bus, a pious man entered holding a handful of paper leaflets. The pieces of paper were an entreaty to help fund a mosque. He picked his nose with his finger. After hurriedly cleaning out the snot, he gave out the leaflets one by one to the passengers using the same hand he had put into his nostril. One passenger held the paper. After a few minutes, the passenger put the same finger he had held the paper into his nose to clean it.

On this same bus, a smartly dressed young girl was sitting cramped up with her parents on two seats ahead of me. She repeatedly picked her nose with her finger, and in full view of both parents (who said nothing), wiped the semi-solid bits from her nose onto the seat in front of her.

Next, a bus hawker entered the vehicle selling fruit. Shortly afterwards, he picked his nose and put that hand on many of the seat rests as he slowly made his way along the interior. Subsequent passengers disembarking and embarking touched the same area of the seat rests whilst they walked up and down the aisle of the bus.

A young man accompanied by two older women entered the bus. He sat in front of the females. A little later, he snorted, then deliberately spat out of the window without looking where the saliva mixed with snot may land. Gazing at the women behind him, he repeated the expulsion of mucus with even more gusto, seeming to show off to the women. One woman reprimanded him. The admonishment appeared to have the opposite effect; it galvanised him. With a captive audience, he again repeated his urge to display a patriarchal disregard of women by laughing and expelling a further large globule of spit.

At a local Dhaka market, I sat in a tea shop amongst many smoking customers. A woman was accompanying an elderly man who was chain-smoking his second cigarette. I asked, did she worry about the effects of Covid-19 on smokers. She defiantly retorted that there was no coronavirus in Bangladesh. Muslims would not get coronavirus. When I pointed out that there were confirmed cases, she said there wasn't because Allah would protect Muslims so it wouldn't come to Bangladesh.

Beliefs are personal, but we can challenge habits learnt from one's family and community. However, habits are notoriously difficult to change because we carry them out without thinking. Many of our daily routines have built in habits, so we don't have to think consciously about every single bit of behaviour. We learn some of these during childhood by copying, imitating, and instilled by consistent adult directives.

When the government realised that Covid-19 was a genuine threat to the country, they issued various measures, medical regulations and advice. Some of these related to what they now perceived as unhygienic health habits. But as is plainly obvious by observing people, habits are hard to change. That's why enforced lockdowns are effective in preventing individuals from unwittingly assisting the spread of the virus whilst we change those habits.

Covid-19 is a coronavirus. There are other viruses that spread similarly. Many different coronaviruses cause the common cold. If we had wanted to change people's habits, that should have happened through a concerted effort many years back, albeit that many people in the past didn't see such viral spreading habits as anything but normal behaviour. They were socially acceptable.

Even though spitting and openly coughing in public risks spreading TB, science doesn't sway socially accepted habits - what's part of one's culture. They're not seen as disgusting. The delay between unhygienic practices and becoming infected makes a conscious connection difficult to grasp.

Although soap may have seemed unnecessary to use before eating a meal, even expensive for some, and tissues a luxury, how many people in the countryside are presently rigorously washing their hands with soap before consuming any food? In the past, how many schools supplied soap and enforced its use after using the toilet or eating any food within the school premises?

Lack of adequate facilities in some rural schools is one consideration. But was it a budget issue, lack of interest to monitor usage or a basic lack of understanding that led to soap not being replaced when it went missing or was used inappropriately in schools? Or indeed, where was the teacher training if many teachers believed in the myth that cold weather (sometimes a slight dip in temperature), 'cold water', too much swimming, etc., resulted in the common cold or a fever?

Many newspapers (often quoting doctors in hospitals) put an emphasis on so-called 'cold-related' diseases during the winter months, fostering no understanding of the actual role of viral and bacterial transmission. Why were 'trained' doctors countrywide perpetuating home myths, at times advocating antibiotics for the common cold or a simple fever? Where was there a powerful counter-narrative?

Now what about spitting - another way to spread Covid-19? Or the ritualistic habit of clearing one's throat with a ceremoniously loud gurgle during spitting and teeth cleaning, sending a viral storm into the air?

Did the people tasked to form and implement the government school science/ health education curriculum, and those to monitor it, have sufficient scientific knowledge and motivation to see ideas put into practice? Did those who wished to offer understanding by practical examples, debate and stimulating critical thinking have a voice when constrained by the pressure to follow rote memorisation, which provides success in a pass/fail examination-centric robotic curriculum?

Finally, the acceptance of an unmonitored parallel religious education system justifies people's personal belief about how to react to Covid-19 - we can't blame others for what we condone.

To be continued...









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