Has lock down pushed India from frying pan to fire

The medical fraternity and the epidemiological circuit buttressing around PMO perhaps would have given their thought to our Prime Minister to go for lock down for 21 days as only option to prevent Corona spread in India. 

From the so called scholarly lot with predominantly western mind set has every right to limit their suggestion on how to prevent the spread of COVID19 (western recipe) that is shut down India for 21 days, never mind the consequences.  But the elected government should have applied also its political mind before lock down without any adequate preparation.

It looks like the central government was left with no or limited choice and hence dared to lock down.  The medical fraternity and the administrative intelligentsia must realize the bitter truth that anything that works against a bacteria or fungi or virus or parasite will not become a drug however superior the given substance may show such activity at the lowest concentration possible.

 

The compound is analysed further, its purity is ascertained, structure is studied, mechanism of action is elucidated, detailed toxicity to various organs, pharmacokinetic details, drug-drug interaction, metabolism, excretion, accumulation, first, second and third generation toxicity otherwise called as teratogenicity are established only then the usability is scored positively.

 

Besides that, the safety of the compound is further tested in several special populations like geriatric group, paediatric group, pregnant women, lactating women, patients with various pre-existing complications like diabetes mellitus, renal, hepato problems etc., and only after all such studies are completed and results are established conclusively, the compound is set be licensed as DRUG.   That is how a new drug is approved and licensed. 

Even after introducing such new drug into the market, continuous surveillance is done to study the long term side effects of the said drug, if any and such studies are called post market surveillance. 

When we take a stern measures against Corona in the form of locking down India for 21 days, half of the drug research measures like how the safety of the compound is established first; the government should have studied the implications of the lock down of India for 21 days then should have gone for it. 

All party meeting, all state level CM’s and Health Ministers meeting, meeting of local administrators, NGO’s etc., should have been called for and then a collective intelligence should have been evolved before lock down.

Long term, short term and prolonged consequences of such measures must have been debated in all party meeting before going for such option but it looks like, the government felt it was helpless and option less and must follow nothing but the recipe of the western world, possibly demanded by some of our think tanks in health care sector who are tuned with western mind set. 

Life and livelihood vis a vis the danger due to Corona and how the lock down would affect our dying economy, joblessness, loss of employment, dying manufacturing sector, small trades, agriculture, perishable commodity market etc.  The measure should not push India from frying pan to fire. 

No one would questions the intentions of our Prime Minister.  But everybody are worried only about how thoughtless is the decision of shutting down India for 21 days.

The style of functioning of Western world; US and EU are different.  The medical problems that are prevalent in many third world countries like Dengue, Chikungunya, Cholera, typhoid, Malaria etc., are still prevalent in India.  Poverty, starvation, mal-nutrition, intestinal worm infestation, amoebic dysentery etc., are also common in India.  Therefore any strict measure to combat COVID 19 must be inclusive of the ground reality of the social and economic structure of our people. 

Our Prime Minster can demand sacrifice from people but should not sacrilege the life and livelihood of millions and millions of people.   Without any elementary preparation, prior notice, not even the basic measures to address the basic concerns of people in place in put, government has clamped lock down in the name of achieving social distancing. 

Everyone is there to speak for the decision or speak against Corona but is there anyone out there to speak for poor and middle income group?  Why our government has lost its human sensitivity. 

We must be cruel to Corona but can we be cruel to poor and middle income group?  Why don’t Government come forward to give financial support to MSME to deal their planned expenses mainly the salary to the employees?  When we follow the western recipe, should we not follow the welfare and social security schemes of western countries to save people?  Let us hope, we will soon get back our OLD India.    

Jai Hind.