Bhubaneswar: Speaking on the current novel coronavirus crisis, eminent environmentalist Prof Radhamohan quoted from famous philosopher Will Durant’s book ‘Story of Civilization’ to say, “These microbes will someday join hands to bring down the marauding bipeds”.
The environmentalist said that while mankind has been worried about population explosion for a long time, some experts are now predicting a crash in population in coming decades from effects of climate change driven pandemics.
Radhamohan said this after his felicitation at the inaugural session of AIPH (Asian Institute of Public Health) University’s annual national workshop here.
He also called for healthy soil for healthy food, public awareness campaign for cleanliness and improved sanitation facilities for women.
Dr Sushil Kar, the director of the government’s Nursing Department, gave the example of reduction in malaria deaths to illustrate how strong public health campaigns and interventions can show concrete results.
He called for greater collaboration between institutions such as AIPH University and government agencies in strengthening implementation efforts in health sector.
Prof J Mahapatra, vice chancellor of AIPH University, and Prof Pinaki Panigrahi, founder president of AIPH, were also present on the occasion.
Later, eminent panellists held a discussion on various aspects of public health research and education. The panellists included Dr Omkar Mohanty, former vice chancellor of BPUT, Prof Luna Samant, Dean of School of Biological Sciences of Ravenshaw University, Dr Priyadarshan Patra, Dean of Research in Xavier University, and Dr Srijit Mishra, Director Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies.