With no vaccine or treatment globally, COVID-19 is here to stay for a long time. And to remind the general public of their responsibilities in mitigating the risk, His Holiness the Je Khenpo launched “Our Gyenkhu” initiative today at the Tashichhodzong in presence of the Health Minister, and senior officials from the ministry.
‘Our Gyenkhu’ is aimed at instilling a sense of collective responsibility amongst the general population in fighting the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
While the citizens of the country have shouldered many responsibilities and volunteerism in times of the current pandemic, the government seeks continued support from individuals in the country.
During one of the press briefs earlier this month, Health Minister Dechen Wangmo highlighted that while many countries have enforced fines and penalties for people not wearing masks in public areas, ‘Our Gyenkhu’ will be a sustainable approach to empower people to shoulder the responsibility themselves than imposing fines. Wearing masks however is just one example an individual should be responsible about.
“It’s an initiative of collectively working towards a common vision and that vision is for a healthy Bhutan. I think so far the pandemic has tested our strength and resilience and we have proven that we are doing fairly well but like I said the battle is not over. We have miles to go till the vaccine comes or the treatment comes. So we want to reinforce through Our Gyenkhu the individual personal responsibility of building the nation and really saving the nation, not just from COVID but from other non-communicable diseases as well,” Lyonpo said.
As a part of the ‘Our Gyenkhu’ initiative, the government intends to engage various social media influencers to inform and influence the general population, particularly the youth on the importance of engaging in productive activities.
Posters comprising of measures that an individual should adopt will be pasted in every election board across the country.
Samten Dolkar
