NON PHARMACEUTICAL INTERVENTIONS FOR COMMUNITY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE - pros and cons in a pandemic outbreak situation like covid-19

Dr Naresh Rathod; Dr Jyothi DB; Dr Fouzia M

Volume : X, Issue : IV, April - 2020

NON PHARMACEUTICAL INTERVENTIONS FOR COMMUNITY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE - pros and cons in a pandemic outbreak situation like covid-19

Dr Naresh Rathod, Dr Jyothi Db, Dr Fouzia M

Abstract :

Pandemics like Covid–19, has impacted the world in its entirety causing health crisis and mortality across countries, this has result in increased burden on healthcare sector viz a viz, has caused social, economic and political impact. The globe has faced such pandemics in the past like the Zika, Ebola, Asian flu or the Swine flu pandemic, that has taken a huge toll on the lives of the people and impacted the growth and economy of different countries to a varying extent. In situation of pandemic outeak we are left with very limited or no pharmacotherapeutic tool like vaccines, antiviral and other drugs that could limit or combat the hazardous effort of the disease causing pandemics. In such scenarios, non pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) encompassing interventions at the individual levels that requires maintaing hand hygiene, covering their sneezes and coughs, maintaining distance from other individuals and isolation from the sick, and community level interventions, that emphasize on the importance of social distancing by means of lockdowns, closure of public institutions, schools, offices, prohibition of public gathering, quarantine and isolation techniques with appropriate healthcare interventions play a very important role in containing the spread of the infection and the disease causing microorganism. In this article we attempt to highlight the pros and cons of such Non Pharmaceutical Interventions and its impact on curtailing the spread of disease, social and emotional impact on the people and the socio economic impact on the country admist the pandemic