• Suresh Pachouri The second wave of Corona is wreaking havoc in the country. The rising number of corona patients and increasing figures of deaths is appalling. The government is concealing the truth and the public is revealing the same. Corona has exposed the decay of the health infrastructure in the country. The reality is that hospitals in the country do not have enough oxygen, or beds, or Remdesivir injections, or ventilators, and no adequate medical facilities are available for infected patients. The main reason behind this is that it has been almost a year since the first wave of corona infection hit the country, but the Central Government did not formulate any thoughtful, clear or far-reaching action plan to deal with the corona epidemic. And the result is here.

At the beginning of the corona infection, the World Health Organization, various medical experts and the people from the top media had informed the Central Government about its terrible consequences. In February 2020, former Congress President Shri Rahul Gandhi had warned the Prime Minister about the Corona crisis and had expected an effective management of Covid, but the BJP government was rather willfully engaged in Election management instead of Covid management. Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh ji had given constructive suggestions by way of letter to the Prime Minister referring to the devastation being caused by Corona. Sadly enough, it all remained unheeded. Had the government taken decisive steps in time, the situation in the country today would not have been so drastic. Now is the time to provide people the proper healthcare, not as a facility but as a basic right.

We sought help from countries like America, Russia, England, Singapore and Arabia etc. after waiting for a long time in the face of disaster. These countries of the world are providing oxygen, vaccines, ventilators, and life-saving medicines to India. We could have taken this help even earlier. The Central Government took the decision to send 6 crore vaccines to 76 countries, irrespective of the need of its own country; simply to gain accolades. It is the biggest failure of the government that the world’s leading vaccine manufacturer is now forced to import vaccines from other countries to meet its vaccine shortage.

The Madhya Pradesh government has made arrangements for medical oxygen, Remdesivir injections etc. by negotiating with the central government. Better late than never! But who will answer the serious questions? For example - the Oxygen Express is now operative, could it not be run three months ago? Couldn’t the help that is being taken today from the Armed Medical Services and DRDO, be taken earlier? Couldn’t the injections and oxygen that are now being taken from various pharmaceutical companies and from the oxygen manufacturing companies, be taken earlier? What had you been waiting for? Isn’t this a negligence of an extreme degree? Who is responsible for the death of thousands of innocent people who lost their lives due to lack of oxygen and injections?

Unfortunately, our country stands first in the list of countries with maximum number of infected people. People are dying due to lack of proper medicines. The producers of fake Remdesivir injections and fake plasma are a big blot on our country. They bring humanity to shame. Black marketing of medicines is taking place and life-saving injections are being stolen. Despite this, the Madhya Pradesh government’s message that “All is well” is truly shocking.

Health in Crisis - Corona crisis in the country has been around for a year. We will have to consider the preparedness of the central government and the accountability of the political system from the point of view of human sensibilities. The situation in the country is getting worse by the day. The country is undergoing a medical emergency. The government of the country and that of Madhya Pradesh ignored the need to improve the medical infrastructure. Instead of helping the underprivileged through the economic package, the state government was constantly engaged in headline management for newspapers, print media and electronic media. The Madhya Pradesh government made no effort to seek help from a non-government retired medical expert with vast experience to solve the problem.

The central government had made a provision of about 35000 crores in the budget for the vaccine. This amount was sufficient to get 90 crore eligible people of the country to get both the vaccines, but no one knows where that amount was spent. Now the vaccine is being made available at three rates as per the new decisions. Will it not encourage black marketing? The decision of three-tier vaccine price is a proof of the greatest short-sightedness of the Government of India. Corona is spreading its wings even in villages of the country. To prevent the spread of corona in villages, there should be adequate number of doctors, paramedical staff and health workers in primary health centers, there should be proper arrangements for medicine, there should also be arrangements for RTPCR test and CT Scan in primary health centers and district health centers. According to rural health data, many posts of doctors and paramedical staff are lying vacant in public health centers. About 23 percent of the posts of doctors in primary health centers are lying vacant. It is important to keep in mind that there is no migration of people from villages and that the corona-infected patients found in a village should be provided with a permit bus facility so that they can get their treatment in the nearest city or district on time. The time has come to focus more and more on the National Health Programme for the elimination of corona.

Home Isolation - Everyone will have to be aware and defend themselves to avoid corona. The spokesperson of the World Health Organization and many well-known doctors of the country say that 85 percent of patients with corona infection can be treated at home. For this, people should be given proper information about safe home care and they should be given adequate health facilities at home. Corona infection is now in the air, in such a situation, corona patients have a better option - home isolation.

Follow the directions of the Corona-infected patient home quarantine, strictly. Patients should get adequate medical facility in home isolation, there should be availability of necessary medicines, they should be given medical kits, which have not yet been provided to everyone, as well as make timely medical consultation with doctors more effective. Vaccination campaign - There is a dire need for vaccination to prevent a series of corona infections. All eligible people should undergo vaccination. The vaccination campaign is overcrowded. Governance and administration do not have adequate arrangements, there is a huge shortage of experienced staff. In hospitals in cities and far-flung areas, people are forced to wait in queues for hours. In most states of the country, including Madhya Pradesh, the government announcement of not giving vaccine to the youth of 18 + from May 1 is disappointing. When there was no vaccine for the people of 18 + age, why was the announcement made, why were they registered? It is a total sham. The government should prepare a time-bound action plan for at least three months, the action plan should also be monitored. The guidelines set should be adhered to and accountability should be fixed.

Today the question is posed not on the intention of the government, but on its working. The time has come for the central and the state governments to take joint steps to strengthen health services. Healthcare should not be provided as a facility to the people but as a basic right. Providing better health facilities should be the priority of the government in times to come. The social contract of health should be strengthened.

(The author has been Minister of State for Defence Production, Personnel and Parliamentary Affairs in the Government of India)