Sumber gambar: The Vocket
With an important national event looming in the corner, we should not forget to stay safe and healthy at the same time. There are many hidden potential health risks during an election campaign trail for both candidates and the voters.
During a ceramah, there will be large gatherings of people. It is obvious when the candidates are popular. Close contact of about 15 minutes in such gatherings is a risk for disease transmission especially those that transmit via sneezes or coughs – also known as airborne disease transmission. Hands that are used to cover mouths and wipe off fluids from the nose can further promote disease transmission when voters and candidates shake hands.
Mass gatherings are known to transmit Influenza, measles and tuberculosis, causing outbreaks in other parts of the world. We should also be concerned, when Malaysians love to bring children along to such gatherings. Children who are refused vaccination by their parents are at higher risk to contract infection.
So, if you are sick, forget about attending the ceramahs. Rest at home, search for live feeds of the ceramah instead. Being healthy on the polling day itself is the best show of support for your favourite candidate. Being sick and unable to vote is a lost vote.
If you or your child has asthma, think again. You might be a victim to smokers and vapers. You want to remember the spirit of the winning party, but not the hassle of going to the emergency for acute asthma attacks.
Practice good cough etiquette. Bring along hand sanitizers. An organizer that prepares hand sanitizers on the ground probably deserve a vote.
Be selective with food stalls. Chose stalls with clean operators. Choose piping hot food over iced and raw food. Food poisoning outbreaks traced to a ceramah will not look too good on the organizer – and the political party.
Sumber gambar : Utusan Online
The campaigns can be a mix bag of emotions for some. Sadness, anger, frustrations, being high spirited – it brings out the teenager in most people. Relax and be calm headed. Raising blood pressures and anxiety attacks not only trouble you but also to others around you. If you had heart attacks before, do not trigger another one. Be vigilant to the symptoms of heart attacks. For those on high blood pressure medication, remember, elections are not holidays to your medications schedule.
When political campaigns start to get heated and fueled up, watch out for cues that may lead to violent behaviour. The plain clothes policeman may be around, but, provocateurs still try to get their job done. Their presence signals the need for you to move away to safer grounds.
Remember to rest. Ceramahs and house to house campaigns may be taxing for many who have never done cardio-exercise before. Muscle pain, foot pain and back ache, especially when you need to carry loads of campaign materials on your back on top of the long walks, are going to be common features for many. Keep hydrated. Fruits are indispensable source of energy to keep you going and hydrated at the same time. You might be glad that at the end of the campaign, you lost weight – and the best part is it was done healthily.
Election is a tense period in a country and is stressful to the body and mind. Some adjustments may be needed this time around but forgoing health in the expense of winning is a loss to everyone.
This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Medical Gazette.
[This article belongs to The Malaysian Medical Gazette. Any republication (online or offline) without written permission from The Malaysian Medical Gazette is prohibited.]