It interests me how many school drop outs have become nationwide intellects on ‘what to do’ remedies to combat every medical situation in the world because they have a phone, data and uncle google, writes Ruta Mave.

“It’s not the critic that counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the woman who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcomings, who does actually try to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, and spends herself in a worthy cause…” so said Theodore Roosevelt, 26^th US President whose motto was “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are”.

It interests me how many school drop outs have become nationwide intellects on ‘what to do’ remedies to combat every medical situation in the world because they have a phone, data and uncle google. I’m not opposed to those sharing their viewpoints, I do myself on a weekly basis, but it would be good to know they have at least passed one science exam in their life.

It’s easy to critique health on their responses to Covid, many on social media do, but what are they doing personally to combat the situation? Agree, there should be more information on what vitamins help cure this or that as alternatives but instead of criticising others’ inaction, the disgruntled critic should ask, if not me then who? If not now then when? Then they could positively change their community?

Often, I see people who preach a subject with passion and purpose whether it be health, wealth or religion and yet in their own lives show no evidence of practicing what they preach. There are health gurus, doctors, nurses, telling you to eat better, exercise more, lose weight while they flaunt gout inflamed legs and obesity. Preachers talking of celibacy, monogamy, the protection of children’s innocence are found to be the pedophiles they warned against. Walking the talk is not easy to live, preaching ‘do as I say not as I do’, is a common theme adopted in leadership.

One can list natural alternatives that should be promoted instead of vaccines against Covid. I use them in my daily life and promote same to friends and family. I also know from working the front line of health that people don’t actively choose to use natural healthy alternatives until it’s their last chance. In my raw food, vegan days, watching the rotisserie lamb meat being sliced gets my mouth watering, when I viewed my choices of chickpeas and tofu I thought ‘Why can’t vegetarians have interesting food like lamb?’ Chickpeas are dry and dull and tofu, tofu, is like eating your jandals smothered in ‘delicious recipes’ so you’ll eat it. No one really cares it’s full of plant protein, it tastes like crap, actually it has no taste at all, unlike lamb.

You can tell people until the sheep come home about living healthy, taking vitamins, drinking herbal tea, but the buffet salad bar is always left untouched and the plates at the family service are stacked high with chops, chicken, cakes and cream with hardly any veges. Educating people of healthy food choices have graced classrooms since I was at school back when Anthony met Cleopatra, two may listen one might act.

Case in point the smoking warnings on cigarette packets, they dominate the box, does that stop people smoking? Not much not until cancer hits. So, what makes our health critics think someone will take a vitamin pill every day to improve their immunity to Covid, if they haven’t already done so to stop themselves getting diabetes, obesity and bowel cancer?

Omicron maybe milder, doesn’t mean it won’t hurt, that you won’t end up in hospital, that you will just have a sniffle. A mild flu with a 40 degrees Celsius fever you’ll feel like you are in hell literally. When your joints and eyes ache and you need 7 – 14 days to recuperate you’ll wish you didn’t have the flu, don’t downplay Omicron. We need immediate preventions that reduce hospitalisation because of the speed this virus spreads and when health says there are no beds available it means no beds. No beds for Covid, no beds for cancer, no beds for accidents, no beds for your sick child. No beds mean no beds.

The vaccine is the instant no fuss, no effort answer for our community lifestyle. Left to ourselves, we don’t take the high road and the hard road, we always take the easy road and the free road. Meanwhile, posters and people are still trying to change community habits and mindsets towards health that should have been adopted 30 years ago.

Ladies be warned there is another worse strain that will plague you to death, it has no vaccine, it’s global and it’s – Man-flu.