WHILE standing in a long queue to enter a supermarket, the man behind me was grumbling because of the physical distancing rule, among the movement control measures to curb Covid-19.
"This will not end until we have a vaccine", he voiced out. He sounded like Bill Gates, who said things will remain this way "until we vaccinate the entire world population".
Perhaps most of us have the same feeling – we need a vaccine. And that is the hope to bring an end to lockdown. Back in my mind, I was wondering, will a vaccine really make all of us safe?
We have had quite a number of vaccines that prevented many diseases. Otherwise, we would have to continue to face measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, and many other deadly infectious diseases. Yet here we are with a dire need of another vaccine against a novel coronavirus.
Hopefully, we shall have one soon. And that will boost our confidence to go back to our old normal. What did we have in that old normal?
According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, in the year 2018, the top five deadly cause of death are ischaemic heart diseases (15.6 percent), pneumonia (11.8 percent), cerebrovascular diseases (7.8 percent), road accidents (3.7 percent), and chronic lower respiratory diseases (2.6 percent).
A total of 18,267 people in Malaysia died from ischaemic heart disease only in 2018, averaging 50 deaths a day.
According to a recent report from World Health Organisation, more than 60 percent of male and female Malaysians are obese or overweight. The prevalence of diabetes among adults aged 18 years and above crossed 17 percent in 2015. The prevalence of hypertension remains high at around 30 percent, while more than 50 percent of diabetes or hypertension remain undiagnosed.
The numbers of mortality and morbidity paint quite a picture of the total noncommunicable diseases (NCD) in our old normal. Clearly, the scenario is more complicated and fearsome compared to the efforts to overcome Covid-19.
The global scenario is not any better than this. To control those morbidity and mortality levels, we do not require any novel vaccine or drug but personal care for a healthy lifestyle.
Healthy living does not necessarily mean depending on sophisticated health care facilities with a supply of medicines and vaccines.
The biggest chunk of the government health budget is spent to treat sickness of the citizens.
Based on a Malaysian National Health Accounts (MNHA) Health Expenditure report, the total health expenditure in 2014 was RM49.7 billion. In fact, the Government spent RM7.4 billion in 2017 just to treat smoking-related illnesses.
In one hand, we have proven our determination and resilience to control Covid-19. On the other, we have the forever increasing government expenditure for treatment following the steadily increasing morbidity and mortality for NCD that has been part and parcel of our old normal.
It might be good to remind ourselves that more than 70 percent Covid-19 deaths in Malaysia are associated with NCD comorbidities. According to a study published in the Journal of American Medical Association in April 2020, hypertension, obesity, and diabetes were found to be the most common comorbidities among hospitalised Covid-19 patients in New York.
After this unprecedented experience with Covid-19, we might want to revisit our sincerity and effort to address the major health concerns in our old normal. Certainly, we want to end this new normal but should not preserve our old normal either. Better to observe the golden proverb – "prevention is better than cure".
If we don't fall sick, we are more productive to have an accomplished life and livelihood. All it needs is our sincerity to adopt a healthy lifestyle by maintaining personal hygiene, physical exercise such as a walk of 30 min; as well as by avoiding excessive junk food, sugar-rich drinks, smoking, being in air-conditioned rooms 24/7, and irregular sleep cycle.
It is also important to avoid over-the-counter medicines such as paracetamol, promethazine, and antacids without a genuine need.
Taking those medicines might give temporary relief, but often our "hyper" dependency on those medicines weaken our immune system and make us sick in the long run.
With a decreasing trend of our immunity, one or another novel drug or vaccine will not guarantee our health. We must prioritize to strengthen our natural immunity while making our dependency on the healthcare facilities as a secondary option.
The writer is a Professor at the Faculty of Dentistry, University Malaya
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times