codeblue.galencentre.org/2021/08/0…

KUALA LUMPUR, August 3 — Even as the various vaccines for Covid-19 are being rolled out, the world remains vulnerable, with the socio-economic impairment being arguably more destructive than the lives taken by the disease.

With the World Health Organization (WHO) cautioning against these vaccines being seen as a true panacea, allowing a return to past norms and other entities such as the Gates Foundation advocating preparation for future pandemics, more lasting and sustainable solutions are needed, lest we allow for a dystopian future for our children.

Prevention has always been better than cure, and over time, humanity has found habits, typically embedded in cultural norms, to be a more sustainable and even cost-effective means of managing threats to life and limb.

As it stands, the establishment of new cultural norms and behaviours, however painful, have been seen as a necessity for combating the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, such new habits haven’t been sufficiently embedded in society, made evident by rapid proliferation of the disease too soon after movement control restrictions are removed from communities.

There is therefore a need for a more proactive effort to establish a Safety Culture in society through its various institutional platforms, be it school, the workplace, places of government, media, religious establishments and others.