Dr. Pradeep Kumar Singh
Many countries have passed through the second or third wave of the Corona pandemic. In India, the pandemic got weakened in January but the second wave began to develop in March. The second wave of the pandemic took the form of a tsunami. The daily infection figure crossed even the 4-lakh mark for a few days, breaking all previous records worldwide. The rapid increase in infected case, put the health department under excessive strain, and the situation got out of control.
Neither the medical system nor the Government could predict of this dreadful form of the pandemic. Due to negligence, indiscipline, opportunism and selfish motive driven politics at every level, the pandemic became rampant and spread to the villages as well. Due to lack of testing, rural data is rarely received. Therefore, the incidence of infection and death from pandemic can be much higher than the data officially released daily. The 3-T formula “testing-tracing-treatment” suggested by the Prime Minister to control the pandemic will have to be implemented in the villages as well. But given the huge population of the country, neither the health facilities are sufficient nor the number of health workers. Therefore, the work load on health department got badly increased. In primary health centers, and check-up camps organized in villages, often health workers also appear to be negligent towards Covid-protocol, which may further spread the infection.
Expressing concern over the corona pandemic cases in India, the world’s noted infectious disease specialist, America’s top public health expert and White House Chief Medical Advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has suggested three important measures – nationwide lockdown, construction of temporary hospitals in large numbers, and large-scale vaccination campaigns. Health ministry and medical experts in India also appear to be vigilant in this regard, and all appear to be playing their role.
The process of pandemic control in India seems to be more complex than that in other countries. India has been a politics dominated country for centuries. Here the royal families have rarely worked collectively to tackle a disaster, rather some have been observed to become trouble creator for others during a crisis. Even today some politicians appear to explore a political opportunity out of the pandemic crisis. Last year, the nationwide lockdown was imposed. But many non-ruling parties at the centre criticized this badly. Incidents of migrant labourers, and the politics on them cannot be forgotten. The Government was ordered by the Supreme Court to arrange travel of migrant laborers to their home by trains. During the lockdown, on the demand of state governments, they were authorized to identify the pandemic affected areas and impose lockdown as required. In this tsunami of pandemic, the state governments of the affected states are taking discretionary decisions, even though it might have got delayed. Surprisingly, this time some non-ruling parties at the centre have been criticizing the Government for not imposing a nationwide lockdown. The problem of some migrant laborers has arisen again with the state governments imposing regional lockdown, for which the Supreme Court has once again ordered to tackle it But this time the situation is worrisome for the migrant laborers as the pandemic has spread to the villages as well. Definitely, the lockdown is necessary to control the pandemic, but due to the huge population it gives rise to many other problems.
Construction of temporary hospitals can play an important role in the treatment of infected people. Work has been done in this regard in one way or the other. Increase in the number of beds for patients, increase in the number of ICU-beds, use school-premises for the isolation and treatment of infected people, construction of additional temporary hospitals, and conversion of roadways buses into temporary hospitals, etc. are similar arrangements. The resources for medical treatment were mobilized during the first wave of the pandemic. But this time, due to large number of infected cases from the deadly variants of the virus, the availability of oxygen and medicines got affected. The condition got improved with the efforts made the governments and availability of the foreign aid. All this has widely been discussed in the media. But the problem persists with the health workers. The number of doctors and paramedical staff in the country was already insufficient. Many got infected and several deceased during the pandemic. Some villages do have first aid centers, but often remain closed due to shortage of health workers, and thus villagers are unable to take advantage of these facilities. Shortage of health workers can be noticed in reputed hospitals in many cities even during normal days. Under the compelling circumstances, the Government had to put on duty the doctors preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination, MBBS-final-year students, medical interns and B.Sc. qualified nurses.
Mass vaccination is necessary to avoid infection. Vaccination in the country started on 16-January. About 18-crore doses have been administered till 14-May, in which about 3.98-crore people have received both the doses. India ranks third in vaccination after China and America. Out of about 139-crore population, about 100-crore people are above 18-year of age. Vaccination of such a large population is not possible in just a few months.
No disaster management initiative in India can remain unaffected by politics. Disbelief in utility of the indigenous vaccines by some political parties in January-February, later seeking permission to purchase the vaccine directly from the state budget, pressurizing vaccination for the 18-44 year old age group in April, and subsequently criticizing the central government’s decision to assign the responsibility to vaccinate this age group to the state governments, demanding free vaccination even when the central government’s free vaccination scheme for 45+ age group is ongoing, and many state governments have also announced free vaccination to 18-44 age group, in addition demanding cancellation of the agrarian laws, etc. are many such issues with political flavour. Although the vaccination campaign for the age group of 18-44 years started from 01-May, the drive got badly affected due to lack of vaccine. This has been a favourite topic of discussion in the media.
The Government’s assurance of providing 216-crore doses of the vaccine by December has raised hopes. The availability of the vaccine will undoubtedly be sufficient for the population above 18-year-old in the country. The decision by Bharat-Biotech to share the vaccine formula with other pharma companies to increase production is also commendable. The efforts by Indian companies to develop vaccines for children is also praiseworthy. But, until the vaccine is available for children, the politics is likely to continue to force the Government to procure foreign vaccine.
Effective measures will definitely control the corona pandemic. But it is important to note that the pandemic has identified two major challenges in the country – the ever increasing (huge) population and the selfish motive driven politics. It is necessary to control these basic challenges in order to make the country a strong nation. Constitutional institutions are expected to give a serious thought on the matter to bring out a solution. At the same time, the society is also expected to perform their duty as dedicated activist and a vigilant watchdog of democracy.
(The author is Professor and Former Dean (Research & Consultancy) Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering & Technology, Longowal)
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