The Pandemic-requirement of a comprehensive legislation...

 Even though the world took note of the Corona virus and its rampage in Wuhan Province of China in January this year, the disease caused by it and later named Covid-19 was declared a pandemic much later i.e in March 2020.

While the pandemic started showing its fangs in February,  mostly in Europe, the first case in india was reported in the last week of January. Indeed, as was the world, too was found heavy footed initially. Admittedly, the government was at a loss to understand what was happening, its possible future repercussions and the steps that needed to be taken to counter the menace. Looking back,  the last such incidence that ravaged the country was  in 1918 when a mysterious fever wiped out population at rampaging ferocity. The devastation caused was so monumental that almost 14 million people lost their lives in the country. The effect of Spanish flu was so severe that it spared almost none; very few lucky only survived. It is said that india’s freedom movement was also affected by the pandemic and india’s GDP as well as population growth recorded negative.

Earlier, the British Government ruling India had passed an Act known as ‘ The Epidemic Diseases Act 1897’. The Act provided powers to Central Government to take such measures as are required to stop spread of any disease which is declared an epidemic. Strange it may appear that remains the only Act passed in last 123 years till Covid-19 penetrated india.

Today the epidemic is fought by the central government which has introduced a slew of measures. The State Governments too have been issuing directives for securing welfare of public. The local authorities are found busy in implementing the State policies; the objective is to ensure that no positive patient remains untreated.

Delving deep inside the policies adopted so far there appears many shortcomings which are putting spoke in the government endeavour. One such thing is non-availability of blood plasma obtained from recovered patients. The nation’s capital was the place where such plasma was used first on active patients. Today the requirements have increased many fold. The effectiveness of such blood plasma may be questioned by pure bred academicians but it remains a potential tool in treating and curing the patients affected by Covid-19 given the fact that medicines or a vaccine appears a distant dream despite all out efforts made by the scientists world over. There surely is a requirement of law to govern this issue as very few recovered patients come forward for this august cause. Even today various appeals float in social media pleading for donors to come forward. This indeed is a sordid tale that out of over 36 million recovered patients only a handful come forward for this august cause. Being very sensitive in nature a national debate is required to address the issue. 

Another aspect that needs immediate attention is regarding the load put on our health workers especially the doctors. In this horrifying moments the doctors are putting everything they have in treatment of the patients in hospitals. Even after almost seven months the doctors, nurses and other support staff are working in shifts which often go much beyond their duty hours. Wearing PPE kits for hours they cannot even drink water or visit the loo till the end of the shift; the doffing of PPE kits which take precious time is another aspect. Today, news of doctors falling to the virus is pouring in from many places in India. It is feared that the entire health care system, already tattering under unbelievable stress, can collapse anytime in the country. It is time the central government sat back and prepared a comprehensive strategy as a back-up plan. An option to rope in the final year MBBS students, to help release work pressure on doctors, was mooted sometime back but nothing comprehensive has taken shape. 

Let there be a national policy well supported by a well drafted legislation in this regard or the nation might see an unfortunate crash of the health care system which could be catastrophic; the reliance on a century old piece of legislation may not entirely suffice.

(www.dprabir62.blogspot.com)