Lancet lacerates Modi govt over muzzling flak
■ Lancet editorial blames PM Modi for mismanaging India’s Covid pandemic
The latest edition of the medical journal Lancet has, in its editorial, come down heavily on the Indian government stating that “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government seemed more intent on removing criticism on Twitter than trying to control the pandemic.” In the hard-hitting editorial, the journal added,” Mr Modi’s action in attempting to stifle criticism and open discussion during the crisis is inexcusable.”
It stated that the “impression from the government was that India had beaten Covid19 after several months of low case counts despite the repeated warning of the dangers of a second wave and new strains.”
With India recording over four lakhs Covid cases and over 4000 deaths during the last 24 hours, the medical journal, The Lancet in its editorial came down heavily on the Indian government stating that “Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s government seemed more intent on removing criticism on Twitter than trying to control the pandemic.”
In a hard-hitting, editorial the journal stated that “Modi’s action in attempting to stifle criticism and open discussion during the crisis is inexcusable.”
It stated that the “impression from the government was that India had beaten Covid-19 after several months of low case counts despite the repeated warning of the dangers of a second wave and the emergence of new strains.” It also accused the authorities of “falsely suggesting” that “India had reached herd immunity, encouraging complacency and insufficient preparation” while on the other hand, a “serosurvey by the Indian Council fo Medical Research in January suggested that only 21 per cent of the population had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2..”
The Lancet further claimed that The Institute of Metrics and Evaluation estimated that India would witness a “staggering One million deaths from Covid19 by August 1.” However, the health minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan on Saturday claimed that “not a single new case of Covid-19 was reported in 180 districts in the country in past seven days and no fresh infections were recorded in 18 districts in the last two weeks,” The journal claimed that till April 2021, the “government Covid-19 task force has not met in months.”
The Lancet stated that the “message that Covid-19
was essentially over also slowed the start of India's Covid-19 vaccination campaign, which has vaccinated less than two per cent of the population...” On the government's announcement of expanding the scope of vaccination, the journal maintained that “the government abruptly shifted course without discussing the change in policy with states, expanding vaccination to everyone older than 18 years, draining supplies and creating mass confusion and a market for vaccine doses in which states and hospital systems competed.”
The editorial suggested that India must now pursue a two-pronged strategy. First, the “botched vaccination campaign” must
THE LANCET in its editorial came down heavily on the Indian government stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government seemed more intent on removing criticism on Twitter than trying to control the pandemic.
be rationalised and implemented with all due speed. To carry this out, the government would have to overcome “two bottlenecks”, which include increasing the supply of vaccine and setting up a distribution campaign to cover “not only urban but also rural and poorer citizens, who constitute more than 65 per cent of the population.” It also suggested that the government “must work” with local and primary health care centres that “know their communities and create an equitable distribution system.”
According to the Lancet, India must “reduce SARSCoV-2
transmission as much as possible while the vaccine is rolled out.” It wanted the government to “publish accurate data in a timely manner” and also every fortnight, “explain” to the people “what is happening and what is needed to bend the endemic curve including the possibility of a new federal lockdown.” The journal also stated that “Genome sequencing” needed to be expanded “to a better track,” “understanding and control emerging and more transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants.”
The Lance added that the “success of the efforts” would actually “depend on the government owning up to its mistakes.” And then, came the final sting. The medical journal observed that the success in tackling Covid would come by “providing responsible leadership and transparency and implementing a public health that has science at its heart.”