Dengu, Chikungunya - Is India Prepared To Protect The Health Of Its Citizens?
"Health is wealth". Does this bring back your school day essay lessons? And does it make you ponder now on these three simple words? India is a developing country; therefore we must not forget these basics. We are surely making progress in all aspects and we will definitely continue to do so. But, we must not forget that we are still at war- with poverty, illiteracy terrorism and all such menaces. With all these and more, we still find new show-stoppers popping up each day.
These days we have been hearing a lot about chikungunya and dengue affecting India. It has affected millions of our fellow Indians and spread across multiple states. The combined death toll has crossed hundreds. The obvious questions that come to any mind are, if we are really prepared to combat such a situation and what are the authorities doing to curb the menace. Diseases do not hit us with ad-campaigns. At the maximum they may come with a trailer, before they turn into an epidemic. Whether we recognize this trailer is important. Apparently it seems we missed it out in this case. Hence, right now we must deal with it on a war-footing as rightly pointed out by the Indian Medical Association president, Mr. Sanjiv Malik.
Lets first talk on the current scenario. Figures are scary. Chikungunya has reportedly affected a whooping 1.3 million people, Karnataka being the worst hit with around 7.6 lakh cases.
Dengue figures aren't better either. Around 3500 cases have been confirmed of which 50 have turned fatal. It has spread across eleven states incuIding Delhi. What's more, we even have the honorable Prime Minister's relatives hospitalized. And from news reports its clearly seen that numbers are on the rise. Atop this we have video clips showing people standing in queues for treatment, people lying in the corridors and sidewalks of hospitals and near ones of patients running around with saline bottles and medicines. The Prime Minister and Union Health Minister and other dignitories visiting hospitals and conducting meetings to frame policies to deal with the situation itself signify the graveness of it. Presently we are really facing a crisis on the healthcare ground of our citizens.
From all the news reports and data available one may derive easily that we were not really prepared for such a situation. The primary agent for these diseases are mosquitoes. India has an age old relationship with this creation of nature, and I am afraid the relationship is far from friendly. We have been fighting malaria for decades now and its still a concern to us. We have been traditionally using DDT for mosquito control, and the results are far from impressive. So first we need to get rid of our orthodox methods and adopt new and improved measures. The requirement is to build a safer and healthier India, and if required we should be ready to take measures for policy changes. The director General of Health Services cited that intermittent rains that led to water stagnation was a major factor contributing to the outbreak. This gives a new dimension to the case. It is indicative of the fact that civil amenities are not being looked after well. Public authorities may not be performing their duties up to the expectations. Reasons can be varied- corruption, inefficiency, shortage of funds and a lot many. Still if we are to climb up the development ladder, we must find ways to get rid of them instead of looking for excuses. We must have policies that foresee a crisis, so that we can handle the situation before it turns into a crisis. At the same time we must have proper crisis management methods so that situations do not become panicky. Our next concern should lie with the healthcare system that prevails now. From the recent reports and news clips it is certain that we do not have adequate medical facilities to face such an outbreak. People have queued for hours in front of government hospitals to get them diagnosed, and then waiting days for test reports to come up and then finally not getting a bed in these hospitals. One can only imagine a more pathetic situation in villages, where a two room health centre is all in the name of medical facilities. A few fortunate ones can afford to get admitted to private hospitals where charges are exorbitant.
We need to have a radical change in our thoughts and policies, if we are to address these issues. And its good news we have already made the start. Let me take a few examples to illustrate.
We are aware that modern medicine still does not have a cure for chikungunya. True France and USA have agreed to collaborate for a vaccine and France has announced that a drug will be available by this year. And this delay has forced governments of the states to turn towards alternative medicines.
Kerala has set up Rapid Action Epidemic Cell in Homeopathy with district-level groups distributing drugs.
Andhra Pradesh is distributing preventive medications through Department of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani and Homeopathy (AYUSH).
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have also taken similar steps.
Next the Union Health Ministry has set up a room at the Directorate of National vector Borne Disease Control Programme to monitor the situation, provide technical assistance and to carry out vector surveillance.
One more news says that the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister has announced mosquito control plans on a continuing basis and use of pesticides like pyrethrum and malathion in place of traditional DDT.
The Union Health Ministry has also announces massive awareness programmes will be launched.
All these suggest that the good work has begun. We need to gear it up and keep the momentum going. For this to happen effectively, the common man should get involved. All of us should be aware of our civic responsibilities. Small things like not littering garbage and reporting stagnant water to concerned authorities are simple steps which count a lot.
Change in government policies to promote public-private collaboration to deal with such crisis situations should be given serious thought. Setting up awareness camps, launching mobile clinics are a few exemplary initiatives to start with. We must take this as a lesson and carry on the good work. So that in future if such an unfortunate thing should happen again we are well equipped to strike back. Let me end by asking solace for those departed souls in this epidemic and wishing a quick recovery to all those who are fighting it and let us hope we emerge as a "healthy" developed nation.
* JAI HINDH *
- SOMYAJIT SARCAR
