Covid impacted more people than WWII: WHO Chief Scientist

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Women rights activist Sara Pilot in conversation with Meena Ganesh during Knowledge Factory 2021.

Women rights activist Sara Pilot in conversation with Meena Ganesh during Knowledge Factory 2021.

Dr Soumya Swaminathan in conversation with Dr Rajat Goyal during Knowledge Factory 2021, held virtually on March 18 and 19.

The Covid-19 pandemic was the most impactful event to happen on the planet since World War II, said World Health Organisation (WHO) Chief Scientist Sowmya Swaminathan adding that the outbreak highlighted critical social issues, such as mental health and disinformation.

Speaking on Friday at the fifth edition of Knowledge Factory, an annual conference that is geared towards college students and aims to produce intelligent, well-rounded citizens, Dr Swaminathan said the impact of the outbreak could be measured in the scale of disruption on ordinary lives.

The WHO official added that the extended bouts of social distancing and lockdown highlighted the plights of underprivileged “invisible people,” and also mental health in people in general.

“The whole question of equity has come to me, front and center,” Dr Swaminathan said.

“Then there is the impact on families that have lost people and the impact due to physical distancing. Humans are social animals, we need contact and interaction. This is particularly relevant for young children who are deprived of peer interaction having been out of school for so long. According to psychologists and neuropsychologists, there are long lasting impacts on the cognitive and mental health of children and young people,” she added.

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The scientist also raised the matter of disinformation. “Many scientific papers are very badly planned and that has caused a lot of confusion because sometimes journalists pick up those stories and put it on the front pages when normally could never pass a benchmark of quality,” she said.

Employment, gender issues

While much of the two-day event focused on women’s rights, entrepreneurship and innovation, the event’s central theme was how cultural shifts are required to allow India to retain its momentum into the 21st century. This means triggering attitudinal changes in young people, said the musician T M Krishna.

Young people were called on to reinvent how they see the world. Ravi Venkatesan, the founder of Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (Game), acknowledged that most people are preoccupied with thoughts of jobs and promotions, which he described as obsolete vestiges of the 20th century.

“Instead think about your life as a series of projects. That’s far more sensible and the faster you can find a way to become self-employed and stand on your own feet,” he said.