Healthcare Crisis in India: An avoidable and unmitigated Disaster COVID Wave 2

The situation in India

The healthcare crisis in India has spiralled out of control which was avoidable and an unmitigated disaster. All thanks mainly due to massive state election rallies in India and people’s outright ignorance of Coronavirus.

Now people are hitting the panic button and finger-pointing and the blame game has started. Deja vu Corporate America style The Hunger games with one marked difference. In the Indian version, the netas (leaders) and their gumastha babus (bureaucracy) stay in power and position.

Problem

The problem-statement can be defined as a simple ‘supply chain logistics’ issue of refilling patient oxygen cylinders 5-L to 25L at POD (point of dispensing) as compared to production issues on a manufacturing scale. the transportation of empty cylinders for refilling has become a monumental issue.

Action

The good news is that the Vedanta Sterlite plant which was closed in 2018 due to the protests is scheduled to reopen by Tamizh Nadu Govt resulting in an additional 1200 MT oxygen production capacity.

Thanks to President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris who have woke & smelled the coffee and took a U-turn in rushing essential raw material ingredients to Indian pharma manufacturers that include kits for endotoxins study, type 1 borosilicate glass, siliconized rubber stoppers, aluminium crimps, single-use disposable needles and alcoholic wipes.

அன்றும் இன்றும் (then and now) Kal Aaj Ka

For a historical parallel, 2020-21, a gigantic repeat of 1961-62. However, the battlefront has moved from the snow-capped Himalayan heights to hospital wards now! Same enemy, but different attack methodology.

Always remember that ‘A Virus is one-billionth your size, but it still beats you.’ Michael Crichton author of Jurassic Park.

Conclusion

Indians have an amazing survival power having gone through millennia of foreign invasions whether it was Greeks, Turks (corrupted to துலுக்கன்), Mongols (corrupted to Moghul), then the Anglo Saxon British and most recently an Italian.

Famous Quote

To quote an epidemiologist friend ‘Indians are like protozoan amoeba since they survive in any environment by taking form that suits their survival.’

Rigidity vs Flexibility
De-centralization vs monolithic top-down command structure.

The UK based Financial Times has done a thorough analysis of country-specific cumulative death rates of which India has the lowest in the world[1].

PS: If a picture is worth a thousand words, it still doesn’t replace the loss of loved ones which hurts. Only time will heal the wound.

Aum Shanthi (Om Shanti).

Note:
1. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

References:

[1] Coronavirus tracker: the latest figures as countries fight the Covid-19 resurgence | Free to read – Financial Times