{UAH} What are other science disciplines doing to address the Covid-19 crisis?

Recently, on a WhatsApp group that I subscribe too, I posted something that generated both decent and bad debate.

The issue was some explanation given on how vaccines work and whether one should indeed choose from a particular vaccine and if some vaccines are indeed superior to others.

The administrator of the group hastily told me to clarify whether the source of information was from a medical doctor or not?

I invariably informed him it wasn't and the next course of action was to be kindly asked only to post things that are from a medical doctor on that forum.

This got me thinking, how can we manage the current Covid-19 situation, if one profession is being highly laden with responsibility while other professionals sit back?  

Are other professions in position to guide or provide relevant information that can be necessary in the management of this disease? If they can, why are they not doing so and why is it that the population cannot consider them as relevant sources of information?

Indeed thinking about it, one wonders where the botanists and ethnobotanists were when one of our premier television stations had to interview a herbalist as the credible source of information about the wonder herb that was being traded around as the cure.  

As people go through a range of various psychological problems, where are our dear psychologists? Are our psychologists only been trained to handle love therapy and relationships?

While everyone is hunting for lemons as the relevant source of vitamin C, where are our nutritionists and food scientists? Are they not supposed to give us the right set of information  on what sources of vitamin C are relevant;  how much should someone take as the right dose and in what form; what could be the possible detrimental effects for some and other releated questions?

Where are the immunologists as we struggle with questions about vaccinations? Where are the molecular biologists, the biochemists, and the much needed virologists since we are dealing with a virus? Are all medical doctors' part and partial of these important groups of scientists?

While it is inevitably important to thank our dear doctors for the job well done in managing the Covid-19 pandemic, it is also important to note the missing gaps that could probably improve the current interventions.

The issue could be that the dominance of the medical discipline may have affected the participation of the other disciplines that are relevant in providing clear management strategies.

With most of the information provided being from the medical discipline, the public is not aware of the relevance of other disciplines on the task force such as nutrition, mental health and psychosocial support.

Indeed these disciplines have sort of been silent and have not featured enough as part of the strategy to manage the underlying issues in this pandemic. The media has also been deficient in their ways of identifying relevant information sources.
 
This has resulted into a significant information gaps on the management of the disease. Without clear information on the competence of such disciplines, my WhatsApp group administrator is right to tell me not to post anything if it is not from a medical doctor.

While such a view may be limiting and not benefiting to the whole group, many actually think that the doctor is a nutritionist, a counsellor, a virologist, a laboratory technician and a nurse all in one package. This makes our dear doctor a overworked fellow and one who can break down anytime!    
            
Ephraim Nuwamanya, Lecturer; Makerere University    Post-Doctoral Researcher-NARO-NaCRRI

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"When a man is stung by a bee, he doesn't set off to destroy all beehives"

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