Fear kills more than coronavirus

There is an unrivalled world shutdown across industries and economies. But the question I want to ask Nigerians is: is there really a world shutdown? Or is it our small world that is shutting down? Truth be told, some will emerge stronger out of this crisis. As you read this right now, some pharmaceuticals are […]

There is an unrivalled world shutdown across industries and economies. But the question I want to ask Nigerians is: is there really a world shutdown? Or is it our small world that is shutting down? Truth be told, some will emerge stronger out of this crisis. As you read this right now, some pharmaceuticals are selling more drugs, Amazon is selling more, guns are selling, Facebook is doing better, mallams and pastors that were not online are right now online. Some politicians will emerge stronger out of this crisis. So, even as we go through a crisis, some people are actually emerging stronger.

I would like to compared the figures given above and what goes on with “Heart Disease.’’ According to World Health Organisation, 1:3 deaths are due to heart disease in the world. Thus, in USA alone, 2,200 people die every day as a result of heart disease, it’s either as a result of heart attack, heart failure or stroke. Heart disease is the number one killer for both males and females globally. At least, 17 million deaths are recorded annually due to heart related diseases. That’s over 46,000 people die every day of heart complicated illness around the world. Heart related diseases kill a lot more people than war, accidents and all cancerous tumors combined. Cardiovascular diseases and ischemic heart disease cause more than 40% of all deaths. Thus, ischemic is about inadequate blood supply in the heart due to narrowed heart arteries. So, my message here is; many heart complications have their roots in fear, anxiety and loneliness. In other words, fear kills more people every day than the lives claimed by coronavirus dated back March, 2020. Nevertheless, make no mistakes; I’m not trying to downplay the deadly impact of coronavirus by any stretch of the imagination. But I would like us to use this global phenomenon to help us reflect on fear and to look at fear in it proper perspective.

Nuhu Muye, Dutsen Kura Gwari, Minna, Niger State ([email protected])