Best to be suspicious of cures based on superstition

Some of the exhibits at the exhibition. Pic/Atul Kamble

An ongoing exhibition ‘Vaccines: Injecting Hope' is opening eyes at the Nehru Science Centre in Worli. The exhibition which was reported in this paper, aims to show the role vaccines have played in our history. The big connect, of course, was the recent coronavirus pandemic and the role of vaccines. There have and will one thinks, always be naysayers when it comes to vaccines. We witnessed that during the pandemic, too. While that debate will not fizzle out, bigger takeaways include the lessons we can learn from the exhibition.

One of the asides is of course, learning the trajectory of vaccines through the ages. Through plaques, installations, artworks and literature, this is a walk down history lane and the role the shot has played. A look into the past, puts the present into perspective. The bigger lesson is about science. It is time to give it the importance it deserves in our lives. Science, credible research, experimentation, analysis should be at the top of the pyramid.

In a country where charlatans and conmen try to sell dubious cures to people, it is science in which we must believe. When we have a health crisis, not even of the magnitude of the pandemic, there are the fake godmen and their false claims that rule.

Claiming all kinds of miracles, touting untested powders and potions, there are just too many people who have fallen into these traps and snared in the webs they weave.

When we turn a blind eye to the rationality of science and turn to quick fixes that have no merit or basis, there is a very real danger that we lose our money and with that dignity, self-respect and peace of mind.

Not all of us can be scientists, or wish to be, either. Let us though cultivate healthy respect for science and become an informed public, making it part of our lives.

In this way we do not fall prey to superstition and bogus claims.