Message of Dr. Harvinder Singh Chhabra, Past President, ISCoS
Dr. H. S. Chhabra
World Spinal Cord Injury Day is commemorated on 5th September every year to highlight and promote social integration and awareness amongst the general public and administrators with a view to help uplift the condition of persons with SCI.
2020 has been a different year. For the past over three months, our whole world has just been turned upside down. Few months ago, we would have never even imagined that such a pandemic could ever occur and how it would totally change our lives including the way we practice. Many of us would have just seen the movie, Contagion and passed it off as fiction. But here, we are now facing it in reality.
'Covid-19 and SCI: Staying well', the theme for SCI Day 2020, aptly covers the current scenario prevailing in the world today. We are living in a difficult situation, with lockdown and restricted movements across the globe. Persons with SCI are more prone to transmission due to various reasons including low immunity, need for clean intermittent catheterization and presence of pressure sores in some. The challenges of person with SCI get compounded during the pandemic because of limited medical resources. In addition, it is not just the medical but also the psychological impact which affects persons on wheelchair confined to their home. It is thus the responsibility of the professionals working in management of persons with SCI and the community at large to ensure a productive and healthy life of SCI individuals especially during the pandemic.
In these trying times of COVID 19 Pandemic, some of us may be on the frontline dealing with COVID-19 patients. In addition there is a large workforce of doctors, nurses, medical staff and other health workers in the frontline. We are very grateful to them for their great devotion to duty, professionalism and utmost selflessness. We especially pray for their safety and good health. Our heart also goes out to those suffering from this novel disease and we hope for their speedy recovery.
In the era of lockdown and restricted movements, I am sure that various organizers of World SCI Day 2020 would be broadening the horizon and looking for various options to promote/observe the event. I wish all the Societies and organizers who are working towards an inclusive society success in the events they plan for World SCI Day 2020.
Let's rise up to the challenge posed by COVID 19 pandemic.
Let's accelerate the movement to serve our constituency.
Let's take all precautions to stay safe and healthy.
H S Chhabra
Past President ISCOS