COVID 19 PORTEND FOR INDIA

COVID-19 BIOLOGICAL PANDEMIC OF 2020 AND PORTEND FOR INDIA

 

Backdrop

Worldwide H1N1/09 Swine flu pandemic in 20009-10, MERS Coronavirus outbreak in 2012, Ebola Virus disease in 2013, and Zika Virus in 2015 were the warning signals of a major biological pandemic waiting to happen, which the world ignored at its peril.

The early 2020 global pandemic caused by Covid-19 virus outbreak has resulted in almost half the population of the world being quarantined or under lockdown, inducing the largest global economic slowdown.

The unfolding events have caught all nations and agencies by surprise, revealing the unexpectedness of such a dramatic scenario.

Higher security, administrative and medical setups of Indian state were equally caught off guard, as the much vaunted Disaster Management plans and mitigation infrastructure proved to be inadequate.

Much as during the Kargil war, it was the steel shown by the administrative, security and medical, junior leadership at district level which saved the day for India.

The Political establishment was quick to grasp the situational vulnerabilities and accepted political risk by swiftly adopting contingency plans by relying on advice of domain experts, contrary to conventional wisdom.

 

Learnings for India

 

Current Disaster Management Plans require to be updated to cope with the magnitude of the pandemic.

National Security Council threat assessment scenarios need revision by incorporating domain experts.

Contingency plans must cater for strengthening medical infrastructure and inducting qualified and trained manpower at short notice.

Statutory protocols are required to avoid delayed response to Central Government advisories by States.

Return migration to hometowns and villages of daily wage earners, rendered jobless, needs to be factored.

‘Street end’ delivery of essentials needs to be planned, for a successful lockdown.

Public law and order authorities must prepare contingency plans for swift preventive action against fringe groups jeopardising public safety and security.

Coercive policy to enforce compliance of quarantine and lockdown orders needs to be provided backing of law.

Law and order agencies to devise protocols for control and monitoring of foreign nationals visiting/residing in country in consonance with Visa rules.

Care for the sick, other than Covid-19 casualties, also needs to be catered.

Community elders need to be co-opted down to village/mohallas/society levels, for proactive support, mitigation of difficulties and combating rumours and fake news.

Checking protocols for identifying vectors on mass transportation transit points need to be factored, for passenger and goods traffic.

 

Biological Research & Development

 

The development, production and stockpiling of biological weapons is banned under the Biological Weapons convention of 1975 and is also against the Geneva Protocol.

However, with increased possibilities of biological warfare agents falling into hands of non-state and terrorist organisations, India is at great risk to this genre of weapons being used against its citizen.

Hence, research on prophylactic preventive measures against biological agents, for safeguarding its citizens, is within sovereign responsibility of India and cannot be abdicated.

In the present organisation of Ministry of Science and Technology, there is duality of resource centres between Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Department of Science and Industrial Research (DSIR).

To optimise utilisation of resources and focused effort, all biotechnology related institutes should come under purview of DBT.

DBT should ideally be headed by a technocrat with adequate domain experts in the chain.

Autonomous organisations for Research & Development on biological pandemic and commercial establishments for swift and mass production of vaccine need to be identified and funded for focused and result oriented research.

The first cutting edge research needs to be focused on identification of vectors, the new age human bombs, at international and domestic mass transportation transit points such as railway stations, bus stations, airports, sea ports.

Recommendations for tasking in research and development of prophylactic measures against viral and bacterial infections may be as under:-

 

-        National Institute of Virology, Pune.

-        Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad.

-        Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

-        International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Delhi.

-        National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Calcutta.

-        High Security Animal Disease Laboratory, Bhopal.

 

Bulk production of vaccines may be tasked to:-

 

- Serum Institute of India at Pune.

- Bharat Serum at Mumbai.

- Sun Pharmaceutical at Mumbai.

 

Tasking of IITs for development of low cost innovative medical equipment may also be looked at.

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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