What are other science disciplines doing to address the Covid-19 crisis?
By Guest Writer More by this Author  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. I invariably informed him it wasnt and the next course of action was to be kindly asked only to post things that are from a medical doctor on that forum. Advertisement  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. 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