Preparedness of India - COVID-19
N S V SUSHMA
ADITYA COLLEGE OF PHARMACY
Underinvestment in public, the health care system poses a challenge to India,s COVID-19 containment plans. The death toll due to coronavirus disease 2019 in India was of 6929 as of June 7, 2020. Since March 24, India has been under a nationwide lockdown, now it has been slightly modified by the government, to curb the spread of the virus.
India is now among the worst-hit countries, but before it is not. But its grossly under-funded and patchy public health system, with huge variations between different states, poses special challenges for the country,s disease containment strategy.
Over the past few weeks, there have been several reported instances in patients trying to free isolation wards in government hospitals and hide travel history. Many with exposure to suspected cases of COVID-19 and infected persons have also tried to dodge the mandatory home quarantine. Quarantine refers to the separation of individuals who are not yet ill but have been exposed to COVID-19 and therefore have the potential to become ill.
The empowered group held detailed meetings with UN resident coordinator, for India and other country heads of WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, UN WOMEN, UN-HABITAT, FAO, World Bank, and Asian Development Bank.
The UN in India has built a joint program response plan and submitted it to NITI Aayog, defining its clear activities and deliverables in different sectors and states. Nearly 1 lakh NGO's/CSO's registered with NITI Aayog have been urged to assist the government in identifying COVID-19 hotspots and for "debuting volunteers and caregivers to deliver services to the elderly, persons with disabilities, children, transgender persons, and other vulnerable groups."
The NGO's and CSO's have also been directed to create awareness about prevention, social distancing, isolation, to provide shelter to homeless, daily wage workers, and urban poor families. In deliberations with industrial associations such as CII, FICCI, ASSO CHAM, NASS COM, and other representatives, the committee pressed for the need to produce more health equipment, ventilators, testing kits, etc.
While the spread of the virus has been global, the fight against it has been national, with each individual government compelled to devise its own ways to cope with the crisis. India has been no exception. The trinity of district magistrates, superintendent of police, and the chief medical officer of the district from the core unit eventually ensuring and emerging and enforcing the lockdown.
This is not about whether China is responsible for the spread of COVID-19 or not. That would be myopic. The real problem is that the pandemic has brought to the force is the interdependence of the global economy and its supply chains on China.
Government of India and WHO partnership further strengthened to overcome the COVID-19 challenge. Integrated disease surveillance program (IDSP), State rapid response teams, and WHO are our "Surveillance Corona Warriors."
The world has now set for a major change. The manner in which India exists the lockdown will demonstrate how prepared India is the efficacy of its system, and its reliability as a global alternative for the future.
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