DNA Edit: No Lessons Learnt - Infrastructure to tackle swine flu is woeful

The country, from North to South, is in the throes of swine flu. It has spiked three times over in January and the admission of its near-epidemic status has come from no less than the Union Health Ministry.

Things have gone progressively bad because the virus is no longer seasonal, but has mutated. Cases are being reported from Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, states that have had no previous history of swine flu.

Clearly, the virus is spreading. Ten deaths have been reported from Kashmir and 14 from Himachal. Rajasthan logged 221 casualties last year, while Gujarat and Delhi are reporting cases on a daily basis. At least 330 cases have been reported from Telengana and the numbers of unreported cases in the country’s hinterland are still unknown.

Suddenly, and at the eleventh hour, the government has woken up and there are harried consultations at the Centre and various states. Under the circumstances, expect more kneejerk reactions. While the spread of this virus is indeed a cause of concern, it is equally true that the infrastructure available to deal with this epidemic remains woefully inadequate in India.

Testing labs are few and far in between; given the density of population, the number of ventilators are next to negligible; and despite standing orders to put in place isolation wards in government hospitals, the number of those affected is just too staggering for such limited resources.

The health ministry is not incorrect in submitting that besides swine flu, other kinds of illnesses too need ventilators, hence the perennial shortage. In other words, the response is way too shoddy. But clearly, there is no plan in place to tackle swine flu, despite the fact that it has raged all through last year and there have been ample warnings of cases being reported from all parts of the country.

According to one independent medical observer in Mumbai, functioning of the government medical system is akin to learning on the job and improvising as the situation unfolds. Given the dangers of a relatively new virus, about which little is known, it is like playing with fire.

The problem becomes particularly acute if the density of population in this country is taken into the equation. The counry can, indeed, be very vulnerable to its contagious spread. One of the important — and wholly inexplicable — reasons for being unable to counter the disease effectively is that private hospitals have not yet been involved in a way that they should have, and resultantly, only government hospitals are expected to carry the burden of battling swine flu.

Private hospitals are much better equipped to handle virus cases and there is no reason why they should not be pressed into service. After all, they are as much part of national resources as government hospitals. But swine flu, dangerously, also has international implications in these days of globalisation.

Since travelling abroad is far easier today, the chances of carrying the virus is greater. If India is seen as a country which is unable to counter this virus adequately, its impact could be worse than an economic slowdown.