Negligence is going to kill us before Covid-19 does!
I have learnt that like one President who blows his own ‘Trump-et’ at every given chance, they believe that the virus is meant only for certain people.
Being an avid reader, and having gathered information through different mediums since the panic about the spread of the endemic Coronavirus, there are two things that I have been made to realise are going kill our people soon, that is much too sooner, than the much feared disease.
The two are hunger and negligence.
I will not dwell much on hunger but on negligence from the side of our people.Most organisations, the government and concerned members of the public seem to be making sure that they provide food and the necessary basics for the survival of the underprivileged, the poorest of the poor. Negligence is a topic that has been raised continuously in the data that I feed my poor brain cells on a daily bass, at every chance that I get, and through the different mediums. I have seen and learnt that many of our people still do not believe that the Covid-19 is real, I have learnt that like one President who blows his own ‘Trump-et’ at every given chance, they believe that the virus is meant only for certain people and this is concerning.
Going through my daily dose of local, national and international news, I have also learnt that most HIV-positive people are also not honouring their appointments, and are not collecting their medication. Reports state that there has been a serious decline in medication collection from these people, and this is a serious cause for concern.
We all know of the warnings about the serious implications of us wandering outside our homes without any reason, but I would not call going to a clinic or a hospital to collect the much needed anti-retrovirals (ARV), wandering without reason, would you?
This is an essential trip that those who are infected (HIV positive) need to take no matter what!
The reasons being given for the decline are amongst others, the fear of being infected with Coronavirus at the public facilities. People are said to be fearful because they have been told that because of their compromised immune system they are likely to die if they get the virus. One more reason is that some stay too far from these health facilities, and transport is of concern as it is also strictly regulated.
I wish to advise those that are full of fear to collect their medication because, going through a daily dose of information to feed my poor brain cells I have learnt that infection control measures have been put in place at our health facilities and that there are different services that are afforded by the National Department of Health when dealing with the dispensation of medicines in these trying times. I would like to urge them (those that are fearful) and the public at large to make use of them, lest we find ourselves with high number of deaths due to negligence.
I know for a fact that all South African’s are in one way or another infected or affected by HIV, therefore we do not want to find ourselves with a huge number of deaths later, when the situation could have been avoided.
Let us also not forget in these trying times, to keep to social distancing, to wear our masks, to wash our hands frequently and lastly, to STAY HOME!
Lerato wa ha Serero…
(This is a weekly comment by Lerato Serero, the Editor of Sedibeng Ster. Look out for it again next week.)
