One size might not fit all

We look for right size for a dress, for shoes and a hat, if you must have one, and the factories have set the sizes and we just have to fit in.

But it is not so easy in real life.

Our past has an impact on us and so do our anxiety about the future. The ratio varies so do our personalities. What makes us are so many factors such as our environment while growing up, our orientation, our education, culture, values etc. Our response to different situations varies according to these characteristics. While we inhale and exhale differently we all know that we are taking in oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide, but here too we have our differences some of us breathe shallow, while others are on autopilot hardly aware of this natural mechanism and then there are others who use the technique to control the mind with their breath.

Here we are - put us on the spot with pressure and we are in a panic mode, we can hear the heart pound, and almost feel that others can see the heart beating, forget the heart, the cheeks have become sizzlers so who needs rouge? The breath becomes shorter and the head becomes light and thoughts become disrupted and sentences incomplete.

There are others who fall asleep with ease as the mind demands rest, and yet there are many whose eyes become dry and lids become sore without being able to even afford a cat nap.

Sleep, they say, is what our body and mind needs most urgently when exhaustion takes over. So our nutrition needs differ along with our life patterns, so how can one size fit all especially in education?

Our professions are going to have makeovers with AI playing a major part, but imagination is something that an AI cannot fill in yet. Of course one can argue that the AI can throw in all possibilities but there is something magical about the human mind. Maybe the AI can provide the colours but the mind can provide the shades.

The powerful mind can even change our realities and so how can one size fit all?

There was a time when we just had to take our regular vaccinations as we grew up. But now the viruses are a force to reckon with so much that scientists are looking at the various ways they can be controlled in order to save the human population. The seasonal flu, the experts say are evolving. When we take vaccination now, within time they evolve and accordingly our vaccinations also have to catch up. One vaccination cannot fit all.

So does that mean we humans are losing immunity and becoming weaker?

To that question Dr Ahmed al Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, said each one of us should be responsible by being physically active, reducing risky behaviours such as smoking for instance.

Being responsible is something all of us can try to achieve and it is almost applicable to all of us unless of course they are children then parents have to apply the system in place. Being responsible is not just local or regional anymore, it is global as Covid-19 has proven to us just like climate change.

Hundreds of health experts from World Health Organization and Ministries of Health from different countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region have gathered in Oman for the conference on Acute Respiratory Infections and Surveillance Network, being organised by WHO and its partners and hosted by Oman’s Ministry of Health.

The theme this year is, 'Better preparedness, early detection and rapid response for respiratory diseases.' Steps are being taken to strengthen the pandemic influenza preparedness plans because as experts pointed out the recent pandemic showed that the preparedness for the pandemic did not fit all – all the countries, as some nations faced major losses. So it is time to learn from each other.