The world is different.
Today we live in a place where caution and uncertainty are breathed. Freedom gave way to fear. With fear, we prepare a future, even knowing that the present is, for each of us, a constant learning. Every day we face the unknown: we know his name and, little by little, we discover his strength. But, like the virus, the information we collect is also constantly changing. We know in advance that SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted through contact with contaminated surfaces and objects and through small droplets expelled through the nose and mouth of an infected individual. However, if it was once considered that their weight would not allow them to be suspended in the air, today the World Health Organization is also considering this possibility.
The relentless search for an effective pharmacological measure in therapy has already led us to the most diverse classes of drugs, from antivirals to drugs used in the treatment of malaria, including dexamethasone: the only drug that, to date, has proven effective against COVID-19, in severe cases.
COVID-19 is a disease still unknown. First of all, due to the long incubation period of the virus, but also because of the possibility that any of us may be asymptomatic carriers of the virus. And that is how, little by little, we realize the fragility of the human condition, its finitude, and the limits of its wisdom.
Throughout these months, we have tried to balance the emotions that plague us: both the vestiges of hope and the darkest premonitions. We adopt new behaviors, change our routines and try to mechanize the preventive measures recommended to us: we wash our hands frequently, we don't leave the house without a mask, we cover our nose and mouth whenever we sneeze or cough, and we disinfect surfaces. We smile with our eyes and respect each other's space. Affection exists beyond touch. We are present from a distance and, more than ever, we are aware that each of our actions can condition the lives of those who live with us in the community.
In Portugal, in the first quarter of 2020 alone, more than five million packages of anxiolytics and antidepressants were dispensed. There is a tomorrow that will not let us sleep and a restlessness that seems to have no end in sight. The way we face this worldwide concern can be quite limiting, as is the social stigma, triggered by the fear of contact with people infected with the new coronavirus. The isolation brought loneliness and anguish, and if for some people everything is just a temporary situation, for others the return to normality becomes more and more unreal. The pandemic came to awaken the population to a set of themes that were not usually discussed. Mental Health (and its absence) is one of them, probably one of the most harmful and worrying consequences that will come from this new era.
There is a before and there will certainly be an after. For now, we know that there is only one way to go with responsibility and attention, where pharmacists want to be a part of, contributing with their knowledge and dedication to the well-being of all the people they monitor daily.
Today, our country is going through one of the most critical phases of the fight against the pandemic, with reality crushing the worst of forecasts. Currently, Portugal is the European country with the highest average number of new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection per one million inhabitants. We reach a new record every day: numbers that are increasingly familiar to us; tragedy to which we have become accustomed. Our National Health Service is collapsing. Since March, thousands of health professionals have not lowered their arms, but today, the forces with which they struggle will certainly be less.
Therefore, the time has come for us to move towards the final stretch of this journey, truly facing this disease. Together. Aware of our duty as public health agents and that the price of our collective failure will translate into a high number of deaths.
It's time to go home.
2021 arrived with new hope! It brought us the possibility of being able to believe in a new tomorrow. We have vaccines available today and a massive vaccination plan in progress: indicators that, perhaps, we may be a little closer to the future we aspire to and that, distant, but connected and willing to learn more, we will be ready to take the next step.
Dr. Andreia Moreira
