Can Nepal not make its own vaccine?

 Can Nepal not make its own vaccine?

At that time, the demand for the vaccine against Covid was very high, while India did not have enough vaccine for its own citizens.

It is said that although there was a need for vaccine production in Nepal, policymakers ignored it and a vaccine production company should be established.

The context is during the Covid-19 pandemic. Nepal was importing 2 million Covid-19 vaccines from India. After sending the first batch of 1 million, the second 1 million vials could not arrive. The import of the vaccine to Nepal was stopped due to a court order there.

The main reason for this is that there was not enough vaccine for their country. After this, Delta, which is considered the most deadly of the Covid variants, badly affected Nepal after India. If the second 1 million vaccines had arrived at that time, perhaps many deaths could have been saved.

Similarly, the recent resurgence of Japanese encephalitis has seen an increase in the number of infected deaths in the last few years. Nepal must rely on imports for this vaccine as well. Apart from these, vaccines are considered the surest way to prevent the outbreak of many other infectious diseases.

Past and present experiences of these studies also show that as we enter the 21st century, vaccines are the only solution for new (like Covid) and previously controlled and resurgent diseases (like Japanese encephalitis).

Although some medicines are currently being produced domestically, there is no vaccine production. It seems that policymakers have almost ignored the need for vaccine production.

Is it that Nepal itself cannot produce a vaccine for use in humans? Or has the health sector not yet realized the need for it, been unable to do it, or is not interested?

There are not enough health centers or hospitals in Nepal. Moreover, health centers equipped with the necessary physical infrastructure and resources are even more limited. In such a situation, if any infection spreads or takes the form of an epidemic, there will be a shortage of hospital beds, resources, and health workers.

This increases the risk of patient death. When I was working at Teku Hospital two and a half decades ago, dozens of patients with diarrhea and cholera were admitted every hour during the rainy season.

Similarly, Japanese encephalitis has a high mortality rate, so dozens of people were admitted every week during the mosquito season. Most of those admitted had to die because they arrived at the hospital late.

Generally, the impact of Japanese encephalitis is greater in the Terai. Due to the lack of sufficient hospital beds and manpower there, they were forced to come to Kathmandu.

But later, after the vaccine against Japanese encephalitis was used in Nepal, the mortality rate decreased sharply. At that time, support for the vaccine came from neighboring China. The support itself is not bad, but the question is for how long?

Nepal had expected foreign support for the vaccine during the Covid epidemic. At Nepal's request, India agreed to provide the Indian-made vaccine called Covoshield. However, when the second batch was to be sent, the vaccine could not reach Nepal because the court there had ordered to give priority to its citizens first and not to export it.

This decision is not surprising. Because at that time, the demand for the vaccine against Covid was very high, while India did not have enough vaccine for its own citizens. At that time, 'vaccine diplomacy' was also very popular.

There was a competition among developed countries to develop the vaccine against Covid the fastest. At that time, Covid was present as a great enemy against humanity, and the world was working day and night to develop a vaccine to protect itself from it.

After the Covid vaccine was stopped from India, another neighboring country, China, received the Covid vaccine as assistance. This also shows how important vaccines are during major epidemics.

The role played by the Serum Institute of India during the Covid pandemic is also an example of how much relief can be provided in an epidemic when a vaccine manufacturing company is available.

Although Covid itself is a new disease, scientists were able to develop a vaccine faster than expected due to their hard work day and night. Naturally, the possibility of developing a new vaccine is also greater in developed countries due to the presence of high-quality research laboratories and excellent scientists.

During an epidemic of a highly infectious and deadly disease that terrifies the world, only a limited number of vaccines are produced by limited production organizations in limited countries. In this case, the possibility of sending it to other countries or the rest of the world is also reduced.

But if the vaccine formula or the 'components' used in the vaccine can be obtained and a vaccine manufacturing company is available, India can be taken as an example that vaccine production can be continued. If there was a vaccine manufacturing company in Nepal during the Covid pandemic, human losses could have been prevented to a large extent. It was a situation where we had to sit and stare at foreigners.

It has only been a few years since the Covid pandemic ended. Those moments are still very tragic, especially for those who have lost their relatives to Covid or who have managed to survive severe Covid.

But it has also taught us some lessons. 

Clothes should be worn according to your own taste, not for society or others

 Clothes should be worn according to your own taste, not for society or others

Nowadays, fashion changes every two days and there are many options for new and stylish clothes for women.

Society dictates the style of dressing according to the occasion, but preference should be given to wearing clothes that you like.

The decision to wear clothes affects mental health and one should give importance to one's choice.

Nowadays, fashion changes every two days, that is, the style of clothing is constantly changing. In such a situation, there are many options for girls and women. Every girl or woman wants to wear new and stylish clothes. However, they hesitate to wear clothes that they like because of what others will say or whether this dress suits their body.

Women with very fat bodies do not like wearing tight clothes. They think that sleeveless clothes will not suit them because they have a thin body, or they find it uncomfortable to wear black clothes because they are light-skinned. However, you should try on all types of clothes once. You should wear whatever your heart desires.

You should keep in mind that this is my body and it should be my choice. If you want to wear comfortable clothes that you can wear at home even when you go out, then you should wear those. You should dress according to your preferences and needs, not to show others.

Give priority to your choice

Society has prescribed a style of dressing according to an occasion or environment. Every society has a custom of wearing clothes of specific colors on occasions of mourning. The colors of clothes are different in festive atmospheres. At a wedding, the bride is expected to wear a heavy lehenga-choli and veil. But if you do not feel comfortable in such clothes, then you should be able to say no to them.

Even in the Christian and Muslim communities, there are prescribed styles of clothes, but why such restrictions?

If you want to wear a plain sari or lehenga instead of a colorful and heavy sari or lehenga at a wedding, then you should wear that. You should not think about what others will say. If the groom understands and has no objections, then this is a good thing. But if he insists that you have to wear this dress, then you should not hesitate to break up with such a person. Because if desires and preferences are not given importance, how can you be happy with such a spouse or family?

Similarly, if you feel comfortable getting married wearing a heavy lehenga and you like traditional clothes, then do that. The point here is only about desires and preferences, which should not be changed for others. When it comes to clothes, you should always give your own preferences first.

Impact on mental health

Have you ever decided to dress according to social standards? Have you ever worn a certain dress but changed it because it does not suit your body? Many people do this sometimes. But clothes have a huge impact on mental health. Knowingly or unknowingly, you start dressing according to the preferences of others, and you may not even be aware of it. But such habits can affect mental health.

Every time you stand in front of the mirror and are told that this dress does not suit you or that it looks bad in this dress, you should understand that your mental health is at risk. Trying to conform to social standards of beauty can affect not only mental health but also physical health.

How you look in front of others is very important. Everyone wants to be seen positively. This old beauty mindset makes you believe that there is something wrong with your body. People around you make fun of your weight or advise you to lose weight. These things make you believe that there is something wrong with your body. So you stop wearing the clothes you like.

Models, influencers, and celebrities are looked up to. They dress in a certain style and look a certain way. You try to be like them. When you look different from what is shown, you feel disappointed.

The impact of this mindset on mental health

If you check the standards of society every time before choosing clothes and dress accordingly, it can affect your self-esteem. Thinking about a bad body image can lead to negative thoughts.

If you don't wear the clothes you like because you don't fit your body or because you think people will look at you negatively, it also reduces your confidence. Therefore, dressing should be your choice, not society's.

Freedom means something different to everyone. Wearing the clothes you like is a right. Many girls like to wear all kinds of clothes, but only wear the clothes their family members tell them to wear. It is wrong to do this. You should wear clothes according to your own choice, not under the pressure of society and family.

If the ear mesh is pierced, how much is avoided on its own, and how much surgery is required

In the inner layer of the ear there is a mesh, through which we hear sound. If this lattice is torn or there is any problem in it, the hearing will be weak. But we don't care so much about something so sensitive. We are doing everything from waxing the ear to putting oil in the ear, which can cause a hole in the eardrum.