Cancer Care in “Covid” Times—Indian Solutions to Universal Problems

Excerpt

“When we confront a problem, we begin to solve it...”

Rudy Giuliani

The present corona pandemic has indeed shaken the world, and a major paradigm shift in health care is imminent in the very near future. Like any other viral illness and in this case with even more deadlier outcomes, we are compelled in to revisiting the whole concept of health care, hygiene and social distancing. The values that were deeply embedded in our ancient culture are resurfacing now while rest of the world is busy re-inventing the wheel. It was always believed in this part of the world that preventing a disease is the best cure for it. And the key lay in a healthier and cleaner way of life. This could be seen as a part of our day to day activity in the form of regular hand wash and the ways we still greet each other. There was always a strong emphasis on issues like respect for the environment, the dietary habits (emphasis on vegetarianism, no alcohol etc.) and emphasis on simple living. India has a rich tradition of Yoga that has very deep roots as an Indian way of life. The word “Yog or Yoga” essentially means union with “mother nature” and is believed to have been started by sage Patanjali thousands of years ago [1‐3]. …