Ending the stigma

Listing several challenges in the gargantuan fight against Covid-19, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan recently said the biggest one was to make sure that affected people are treated with compassion, and not stigmatised. This, he stressed, was also applicable for the healthcare workforce, who have been at the receiving end in some residential areas. The profound observation should be seen in the context of how amid the heartwarming stories about good deeds and people dutifully following government orders, the pandemic is also bringing out a darker side of fear, resentment and shaming. There have been several instances of patients, with positive or even negative diagnosis in the end, facing or fearing hostility by the community. Some choosing to end lives is a tragic outcome, as is the refusal to allow cremation of victims.

Illness is a fundamental fear humans deal with, and the instinct to protect oneself and family from catching a potentially fatal disease can bring out unpleasant reactions. There is an understandable fear of the unknown, but the tendency to mark out and castigate those who get sick needs to be called out as unacceptable. Political and community leaders ought to take the lead and counsel their constituents on the desirability of holding on to compassion, a virtue extolled in great detail in religious texts.

There is no denying a commonplace proclivity to harbour negative attitudes towards individuals afflicted with a wide range of illnesses, and HIV/AIDS often topping the list. Bringing about a change in mindsets takes a long time, but small acts can make a lot of difference. Credit is due to actors Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson for publicly discussing their Covid infection, easing the rebuke quotient and mental isolation for others going through a similar health crisis. As a doctor on the frontline remarked, ‘Patient zero did not create the virus. He never knew he had it.’ Humankind can afford to be more kind.

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