The virus and the poor

Swine flu has now been declared a pandemic having spread to 74 countries and infected almost 30 thousand people. Here in the Philippines some 250 individuals have gotten the virus, including students from exclusive schools in Manila. In Cebu there are only less than a dozen reported cases which so far have occurred outside school campuses.

Without doubt, H1N1 virus is bound to spread to various parts in the country considering the highly contagious nature of this ailment. If it has afflicted thousands of people in developed countries such as the US and England where the standard of living is high and where an efficient health care system exists, how much more serious it would be in a third world country such as ours? And if the virus has blown its way into top-end colleges in the capital city, how much more vulnerable are the students in government schools in the provinces?

In the face of this clearly uncontrollable spread of the virus, DOH authorities have given up its containment strategy and have shifted to mitigation. The latter approach involves treatment of the sick while at the same time preventing others from getting sick. Preventive measures such as eating nutritious food, getting enough sleep, taking supplementary vitamins, doing physical workouts and others are suggested. Of course these are very much doable for those whose income level is above that of the rank and file. But for the latter, what chance have they to keep themselves from getting sick? Or if they do get sick, where do they get the money for medication?

Health authorities have tried to comfort the people with the information that this type of virus is a mild one. Proof of this, they say, is that no fatalities have yet been reported in the country. But even a less virulent infection can be fatal if the person’s immune system is weak for lack of body-building food, good health habit, and a sanitary environment – conditions usually found wanting among the poor. Will these hapless people therefore bear the burnt of the virus’ onslaught?

Not necessarily. For some reasons the virus seems to prefer getting hitched unto well-off people. But this does not mean they won’t go for marginal groups in the event of a full grown epidemic. However, there is a possibility that among the poor some kind of virtual protection exists. One must have observed shabbily clad children in depressed areas roaming around sans slippers or shoes but who seldom go down with common cold, flu or such ailment. In contrast, pampered children of well-off families who are well fed, shod and clad are usually more susceptible to diseases. Why? There’s no definite answer. But for sure there is an answer, and God could be the answer. Blessed are the poor in spirit, Jesus said. And somewhere in the Scripture he is said to have looked fondly at the poor widow who gave all she had for the temple tax. Certainly, the Lord is very much pro-poor in inclination. That’s why he chose to be poor and to work his miracles among the poor. Is it not therefore logical for him to extend his protective mantle over those who have less in life?

In the midst of the swine flu scare now keeping the authorities restless the call is for an all-out prayer. Side by side with health measures, there is a need for a supernatural intervention because by ourselves alone we can do nothing.

The Catholic church in Cebu is therefore on the right track with its prayers for H1N1 protection addressed to the Mother of God, especially the Virgin of Guadalupe. Why the Virgin of Guadalupe? Because she is the patroness of Cebu and because under such name she has been refuted to be responsive to prayers for deliverance from danger. That’s why when there was a cholera epidemic in Cebu in the early days of the Spanish era, the Virgin of Guadalupe was said to have been instrumental in stopping the pestilence after she was publicly venerated in a series of religious processions. To this day, the devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe has been faithfully observed by many Cebuano Catholics especially in barangay Guadalupe in Cebu City where solemnities in her honor are held every second week of December.

Skeptics may scoff at the use of prayer to stifle the swine flu epidemic, but Cebuanos, God fearing as they are, believe that “more things are wrought by prayers than this world dreams of,” to quote Tennyson. So as the dark clouds of the virus threaten to engulf this province, there is an unceasing plea to the Almighty to whiff it away and save us. But will God listen to our prayer?

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