The relative importance of COVID‐19 pandemic impacts on biodiversity conservation globally

Abstract: The COVID‐19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on almost all aspects of human society and endeavor; the natural world and its conservation have not been spared. Through a process of expert consultation, we identified and categorized, into 19 themes and 70 subthemes, the ways in which biodiversity and its conservation have been or could be affected by the pandemic globally. Nearly 60% of the effects have been broadly negative. Subsequently, we created a compendium of all themes and subthemes, each with explanatory text, and in August 2020 a diverse group of experienced conservationists with expertise from across sectors and geographies assessed each subtheme for its likely impact on biodiversity conservation globally. The 9 subthemes ranked highest all have a negative impact. These were, in rank order, governments sidelining the environment during their economic recovery, reduced wildlife‐based tourism income, increased habitat destruction, reduced government funding, increased plastic and other solid waste pollution, weakening of nature‐friendly regulations and their enforcement, increased illegal harvest of wild animals, reduced philanthropy, and threats to survival of conservation organizations. In combination, these impacts present a worrying future of increased threats to biodiversity conservation but reduced capacity to counter them. The highest ranking positive impact, at 10, was the beneficial impact of wildlife‐trade restrictions. More optimistically, among impacts ranked 11‐20, 6 were positive and 4 were negative. We hope our assessment will draw attention to the impacts of the pandemic and, thus, improve the conservation community's ability to respond to such threats in the future

A case discussion on presbyacusis

Presbyacusis is one among the many socio-medical problems, which is considered as a hidden disability. The hearing impairment in elderly people is described as presbyacusis. Hearing problem among elderly people is a major issue and a person with hearing loss may be unable to hear doorbells and alarms, to respond while talking with anyone, etc. All this can make them feel frustrated, lonely, and depressed. It is the third most common chronic condition after arthritis and hypertensive diseases among elders. Hearing loss can be improved by using the hearing aids. Hearing aids work well for some while for others; it may not be a perfect solution due to many reasons such as some people do not buy aids that meet their needs, incorrect amplification adjustments, low custom design, etc. In classics of Ayurveda this ailment has been described as karnabaadhirya under the heading of ear diseases. Karnapurana (Instillation of medicated oil into the external auditory canal) is one of the major treatments for ear diseases explained in classics. Clinical observation has shown its effectiveness in the management of presbyacusis. A case report of 75-year-old male who presented with complaints of reduced hearing and tinnitus in both ears has been presented here