Editorial
Threat of swine flu
Preparedness has to be focussed and all-out
THOUGH it is about two months that the first swine flu virus-infected case was detected in the country, a full-fledged public awareness campaign against the pandemic, as promised by the government, is yet to take off. And as if to match it, the level of preparedness to fight the disease, so far as it has been reported in the media, too, leaves much to be desired.
Meanwhile the number of swine flu afflicted patients has jumped to 275, the latest count says. At this stage the natural question that comes to the public mind is: is the health ministry really itself up to the threat and doing all that is necessary to stay fully prepared against what seems to be a rising threat public health? For if it really meant business, then why is it that the designated hospitals are yet to have isolated wards for treatment of the flu and the private hospitals still don't have the medicine? One also hears of complaints from families of the patients that the staffs of some hospitals even denied that they had any facility for treating swine flu, as reported in the newspapers otherwise.
Such lackadaisical attitude in the face of the pandemic has really befuddled the public. That apart, it is also sending conflicting signals to the public as to how to address the ailment since the facility for testing the suspected cases for detection of infection has been withdrawn. What has further confused everyone is the way health minister the other day had put the blame on the press for what he said, 'cooking up' stories about suffering of the swine flu victims seeking treatment in different hospitals.
True, compared to neighbouring India, for example, the spread of the disease is yet to take any serious turn so far. But that should also not be any cause for complacency on our part. For one has to keep in mind that it is spreading fast worldwide. So, without even being an alarmist, there is also no point in unwittingly underplaying the potential hazard the disease poses to local population.
Considering the seriousness of the issue and the need for dispelling fears from the public mind, the government can ill-afford to waste any more time in taking the steps necessary to raise the required mass awareness, mount preparedness against the disease including close surveillance, internalising WHO messages as well as arranging adequate treatment and follow-up measures.
And to meet the challenge, the government should at least be equal to the threat posed by swine flue, if not ahead of it.
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