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| April 09, 2008 | Wednesday | Rabi-us-Sani 2, 1429 |
Hazards of climate change
Human-to-human transmission
Perception and reality
BRANDING Pakistan as the most dangerous place in the world is a perception which may be exaggerated and untrue.
THREE provincial assemblies have so far met, and completed their business with parliamentary decorum, except the Sindh Assembly. This is astonishing because, relatively speaking, Sindh is the most literate of the three provinces and has produced some exceptionally brilliant politicians and parliamentarians. The enormity of the fracas on two consecutive days has implications that go beyond the person of Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim and has the potential to wreck the friendship which the PPP and the MQM were professing with great warmth last week. The most disturbing of the developments is the MQM’s decision to boycott the assembly session indefinitely. The MQM leadership’s anger over the manhandling and humiliation of their chief ally in the last coalition government can be understood. The Karachi-based leadership condemned it, and from London Mr Altaf Hussain called it ‘an act of terrorism’. The PPP also denounced the incident without any reservations but blamed, perhaps unconvincingly, the caretaker government for it by claiming that it still controlled the police and officialdom. However, an indefinite boycott of the assembly, when it has just begun its session and the task of government formation has not even started, seems unwarranted.
The contrast with what happened last week is stunning: Asif Ali Zardari visited Nine Zero — preceded by the fateha at the graves — and the warm response given by the flag-waving MQM supporters seemed to consolidate their political alliance. However, the indefinite boycott shows impetuosity rather than a well-considered political reaction to an unfortunate incident. Some analysts link the MQM’s decision to another motive: the MQM wants to be given some plum departments in the coalition government, and the boycott is intended to pressure the new chief minister. The MQM need not be told that the PPP enjoys an absolute majority in the house, and it elected Syed Qaim Ali Shah the chief minister without the presence of the assembly’s second largest party. The new chief minister has yet to begin the task of government formation, and it goes without saying that the boycott will not merely serve to delay it, the MQM’s decision could perhaps mark the beginning, once again, of yet another era of hostility between the two. If the trend is not checked in time, history could repeat itself and Sindh may find the PPP and the MQM again embroiled in a kind of reckless confrontation that saw a lot of blood letting in the nineties. This will go against the national ambience which is at the moment characterised by cooperation and harmony among all parties and leaders to make a success of the democratic process. Meanwhile, the blackout of the two TV channels needs to be thoroughly investigated. While the cable operators’ body blamed the blackout on a technical fault, we hope the findings of the inquiry ordered by Federal Information Minister Sherry Rahman will be made public so that the real culprit is identified.
IT is unfortunate that the lack of emphasis on environmental concerns in Pakistan often causes the public to disregard the link between atmospheric changes and health. Significantly, the connection was made on World Health Day, observed some days ago, when the focus was on this year’s theme of ‘protecting health from climate change’. The erratic weather patterns — cyclones, unexpected and heavy rainfall, floods — that we in Pakistan have been witnessing of late, are an indication of difficult times to come. We have, of course, all along had to deal with the direct consequences — injuries, displacement, illness and psychological trauma — of natural calamities. But if climate change makes these a permanent feature, it will take a heavy toll on people’s health. The fact is that climate change is creating new stresses in people’s lives to which they have not managed to adjust very fast. Besides, climate change can also have an impact on the prevalence of infectious and vector-borne diseases, including malaria and dengue fever, causing these to affect a larger section of an already vulnerable population. This situation is complicated by the fact that medical help is not always at hand and the country’s health infrastructure is deteriorating day by day.
It is true that only a collective world effort can cause the process of climate change, including global warming, to slow down. Unless the industrialised countries cut down on environmentally disastrous practices, such as large-scale greenhouse gas emissions, poorer populations will continue to bear the brunt. However, national policies on combating climate change and contributing to environment-friendly practices can achieve some respite. For instance, even though Pakistan is not a major industrial polluter (although its cities are repositories of disease-causing, untreated factory waste), it subscribes to other disastrous practices such as unchecked deforestation. This has an adverse impact on the climate which in turn affects human development. Additionally, improving basic services such as sanitation and clean water supply — thus limiting exposure to disease — will also help the people cope with the consequences of climate change. But that does not absolve the authorities of the responsibility of adopting plans to play its role in the global effort to slow down or even stop the process of climate change. The first step should be to create public awareness of the hazards involved.
THE World Health Organisation (WHO) has more or less confirmed what many had suspected in the country: that human-to-human transmission of bird flu occurred in Peshawar when a sick poultry worker infected his brothers — two of whom died — last year. WHO has made it clear that the infection did not spread further. However, this is only partially reassuring as the case is further proof that human-to-human transmission of this deadly disease is possible. Considering that the H5N1 strain of virus has been detected in poultry in places as distant from each other as Karachi and Mansehra, the task to put in place measures aimed at preventing the disease and limiting its spread is intimidating. Perhaps one of its most difficult aspects is to closely monitor poultry farms across the country and to get their owners and workers to report signs of avian flu. The poultry industry has already incurred losses of millions of dollars during previous bouts of bird flu. It is quite possible that the fear of further depletion of income would make farm owners reluctant to inform the authorities of any sign of sickness among their birds. In this scenario, regular inspections of poultry farms by government officials are necessary.
Moreover, there must be greater efforts to educate workers on the dangers of bird flu and to ensure that they are properly protected. This is again a difficult job. Many workers, including cullers, are daily wage earners and are not long enough in one place to learn about the importance of hygiene when handling birds and to recognise flu symptoms among them. This underlines the need for creating a system at all commercial farms requiring workers to take precautionary measures. Thus they should wear protective gear when in contact with poultry and employ hygienic practices like frequently disinfecting contaminated surfaces. Safety measures are also required in the rural homes where inhabitants keep poultry. Those trying to cover up the presence of diseased birds at their farms must be penalised to give a stern warning to others. Any negligence on this front can lead to a situation where people catch the infection from each other. The consequences of this happening anywhere will be global.
However, it is the result of the complete absence of an image-building strategy both at the national and media level. The events of 9/11 brought more attention to Pakistan than they did to any other country — unfortunately for all the wrong reasons.
Internally, the people of Pakistan perceive it as a country which has been sold to the Americans for $10m worth of military aid, a country struggling for its identity and security. Externally, it is perceived as a country which is the hotbed of terrorism and turmoil with very little of interest to offer those looking for attractive areas of investment or enriching culture. As they say, there is some fire behind the smoke, and that holds true for Pakistan as well.
However, to call it the most dangerous place in the world is an exaggeration reinforced by the completely indifferent and irresponsible attitude of our various ministries and media that are expected to present a more balanced picture of the country.
Let us look at the missing links in our image-building strategy to find out what has caused this negative image:
Unbalanced media reporting: Bomb blasts are headline material, so are racial killings and other crimes and scandals. However, the way they are handled by our media, or, let us say mishandled by our people in charge of giving official details of what happened, adds fuel to the fire instead of playing down the fears of those involved. The electronic media industry is nascent and has just gone into a period of mushroom growth where every other day a new channel is born. This frenzied media competition has created a war for viewer attention.
Most of these channels lack a planned entry regarding in what area they should occupy a specific niche which gives them a respectable target audience to earn returns on their investment. However, because of the lack of specific positioning, it is more of a ‘me too’ strategy.
The emphasis is not on creative programming, but ‘breaking news’ or ‘we were the first ones there’ or ‘always on the spot’ slogans which mean nothing except that there is a sensational happening. Unfortunately, in Pakistan’s case this usually comprises suicide bombings. Every channel tries to give a more elaborate and scarier picture of the event in an attempt to hold on to audience attention. In doing so, television gives plenty of food to the already wary foreign channels to use their clips and give the impression that Pakistan is full of landmines exploding regularly.
This would not be so overwhelming if the media balanced it by showing the positive side of the country such as the booming business climate experienced by many multinationals.
Similarly, the coverage of criminal incidents happening in other countries like India and the US are hardly given the treatment we receive by their media, despite the fact that they do happen much more frequently than portrayed by our own or the foreign media.
America has experienced four cases of random shooting in universities since Jan, which are similar to suicide bombings as the victim has first of all shot randomly in lecture halls and then killed himself. In any other country, four such incidents in four months would severely affect the image of the country, but for the US, it is just a matter of news for a day or so and then it is back to Dow Jones and Britney Spears.
India has experienced human rights atrocities as a matter of routine. The killing of Muslims in Gujarat was not a unique incident. But minimum media exposure both in Pakistan and overseas gives the perception of such incidents being just once in a lifetime events. Recently, in Orissa, in another bizarre exhibition of Hindu fundamentalism, on Christmas day 55 churches and 600 houses were torched causing immense damage to property and creating scare among the Christian population.
News of a single church in a similar incident in Pakistan would have been splashed all across in the local and foreign media. But, surprisingly, such large-scale attempts to target Christians by fundamentalists in India went almost unnoticed by all media.
Positioning Pakistan positively: Most countries have a specific positioning strategy, including those experiencing turmoil like Sri Lanka, Nepal, etc. These countries are constantly advertising and developing publicity plans to highlight their positive attractions. They position themselves on the basis of their unique features and create slogans which are constantly played with attractive visuals on global channels like the BBC and CNN. They also advertise them in the print media and foreign magazines of repute like Fortune, Time, Newsweek, etc.
Malaysia’s ‘Truly Asia’ theme has done wonders for their image despite these countries being home to political and religious turmoil. India is ‘Incredible India’, Singapore is ‘Uniquely Singapore’.
Even small countries like the Maldives and many Indian cities like ‘Go Goa’ have separately marketed themselves on their beaches and have now become huge foreign attractions. Countries like Indonesia and Egypt where terrorism originated, have taken to clever advertising to neutralise the damage by showing off their tourist attractions.
Unfortunately Pakistan has no such strategy. From time to time, one did see feeble attempts by the government to advertise a few Pakistani exportable products, but they were so boring that nobody remembers them. It is thus imperative that Pakistan’s unique selling points be highlighted by developing a comprehensive media campaign. Pakistan has breathtaking natural beauty in the north and plenty of culture and tradition in all four provinces.
However, these need to be highlighted, not in the form of long bland documentaries but as short, spicy, catchy advertisements with memorable slogans at the end like ‘Pakistan: naturally beautiful’ with flashes of the most awesome mountain ranges being alluringly portrayed.
Countries, like products, are also like brands. People ‘buy’ them for the image they represent. Pakistan has been branded as a destination to be avoided in terms of business, sports and tourism. However, history shows that countries like Nepal, Kenya and Bulgaria, after almost being written off by many experts, have strongly re-branded themselves as places with much to offer.
One of the top priorities of the new economic managers of this country should be to develop a professional long-term image-building strategy to position Pakistan as an exotic country full of natural beauty, cultural diversity and lucrative business activity. Only by constantly highlighting these images will the country be able to bridge the huge chasm between perception and reality. n
