By Dr Harsh Sharma
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought India’s environment-sensitive philosophy of life back in focus. And while health agencies of the world prescribe a way of life encouraged in the scriptures, many may not be aware of how the presently popular survival mantras may hold their genesis to ancient wisdom.
The Vedas, Puranas and Upanishads contain the earliest messages of preservation of environment for ecological balance. They place the five elements of nature—earth, water, air, light and cosmos—above everything else and tell humans to live in sync with them.
Likewise, the Bhagavad Gita advises not to try to change the environment, improve it, or wrestle with it even when it turns hostile and prescribes people to tolerate the upheaval and improvise self to survive the change. They state that earth is not a territory to be conquered and forbade humans from exploiting nature as divinity prevails in all elements, including plants and animals.
Diseases as an outcome of meddling with nature
There is no dearth of examples to prove that meddling with nature creates a breeding ground for diseases. This adds to the need and importance of living in harmony with nature.
The Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was unknown to human race before 1959. It is widely believed that HIV originated in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo around 1970 when HIV crossed species from chimpanzee, a wild animal, though there was no need to disturb their habitat for any reason.
Not just these, many infectious diseases of recent concern, including malaria, influenza, dengue, Japanese encephalitis and Covid-19 have emerged from complex ecological communities involving multiple hosts and their associated parasites.
Some of them are influenced by human impacts on the environment, for example intensive agriculture, deforestation, habitat loss, contamination of air, water and soil.
The biggest culprit perhaps is the degradation of forest cover that displaces an entire biota of flora, fauna, microbes, insects and animals and compels them to interact with the human population which may sooner or later lead to emergence of new diseases in humans.
Ebola virus, for instance, was a tragic medical event which happened in Africa and which caused much human mortality and morbidity. It was suspected to be an animal-transmitted disease i.e. it was transmitted from bats to apes, monkeys before hitting humans.
The unmindful mingling with nature may alter in unanticipated ways the structure and composition of ecological communities. Despite a lot of advancement in understanding and management of these diseases, morbidity and mortality incurred are still sporadically higher in many parts of the world, especially in low and middle-income countries.
Connected world aids spread of diseases: The current pandemic crisis caused by the SARS-CoV-19 virus has proved how fast diseases can spread and alter life forever. Unless the race for development stops and rethinks to come up with ways that are in sync with nature, future pandemics cannot be averted.
Individuals, governments, societies, groups and communities will have to come forward and understand that the very existence and well-being of human race directly depends upon healthy equilibrium between humans and environment.
(The writer is joint director, communicable diseases, UP health department)
