Health

The Covid-19 pandemic put to test the capacity and resilience of health systems across the globe. Public health systems in countries witnessing widespread virus transmission (USA, western European countries, Iran and India) were overwhelmed, leading to higher mortality. Despite lower disease incidence when compared to western countries, major cities of India witnessed significant Covid-19 related mortality. Various shades of lockdowns and civilian restrictions aided containment efforts, but caused severe socio-economic distress.   In India, the pandemic response relied on tertiary hospitals with intensive care units and ventilators to treat Covid-19 and prevent deaths. Expectedly, the technocratic part of health systems led…

[This article was updated after an official order, with several changes to the original announcement, was issued by the Chief Secretary, Karnataka. The full text of the order can be found here] The Karnataka government has imposed a State-wide night curfew for eight days beginning December 24. The curfew will come into effect at 11 pm and last till 5 am on those days. The decision was taken in view of the new strain of Covid-19 virus, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa announced, a day after he had ruled out the possibility of night curfew. "In view of the new…

It was only last week that work hours returned to “normal” for Sajida, an Accredited Social Health Worker (ASHA), also known as Community Health Worker, who lives in Mahalakshmi Layout.   As with all ASHA workers, she was part of the critical front line; keeping her ears to the ground and eyes peeled for any sign of Covid-19 and its spread in her locality. Since March, when the city recorded its first coronavirus case, Sajida has worked up to 16 hours a day, surveying neighbourhoods and tracing contacts of those who tested positive.  Although Covid-19 cases and positivity rates have…

On November 30, the State Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) for COVID-19 issued an advisory to Karnataka government, detailing the measures needed to contain the second wave of the pandemic in the state. According to the TAC, the second wave is expected in January-February. Following is an edited version of the advisory. Key measures to contain second wave: The 7-day average growth rate as well as Reproduction number (Ro) of COVID cases will be closely monitored at the district and state levels for early recognition of the second wave.An epidemic intelligence team shall support the state war room for early recognition…

Dr Syeda Ruksheda is the co-Chair of women’s mental health speciality section of Indian Psychiatric Society. An eminent psychiatrist and psychotherapist, she has specialised in young adults, women and families, in a career spanning 20 years. She also has two TEDx talks to her credit. In this video she talks to Malathi Rai, who wrote the concept, story, screen-play and lyrics of Smile Simi, a film on depression released on World Mental Health Day this year. Syeda and Malathi discuss the mental health pressures on women from marginalised sections of the society and how tough it is for such women…

On a busy noon last week, as Kavya, 63, was scouting for medicine for her husband at the Yusuf Sarai market in south Delhi, she noticed that salesmen in many drug stores were either without masks, or were not covering their nose and mouth. The elbowing crowd of customers, too, were not wearing masks. “I got terribly scared and was virtually in tears,” says a frightened Kavya as she rushed out of the shop. This market is lined with more than 50 drug stores as two big hospitals—AIIMS and the Safdarjung—are in proximity.  At the giant commercial-cum-office complex at Nehru…

It's been a week of promising news on the various COVID-19vaccines under development. Moderna announced that it's vaccine has been found to be 94.5% effective based on its trials. Pfizer followed with the news that it's vaccine was found to be 95% effective. Closer to home, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine being manufactured at the Serum Institute of India declared that its vaccine has 90% efficacy. Subject to regulatory approvals, the first doses of these could be available to the public at different parts of the world as early as December.  The collaborative effort to find a vaccine to halt COVID-19 has…

It’s easy to complain about our city’s bureaucracy, but we need to appreciate it when it works. When Chennai, like the rest of India and most of the world, went into lockdown in March, my husband and I weren’t too worried. We were confident that if we took adequate precautions, we’d escape the scourge. We thought that any problems we faced would be more because of social distancing requirements than anything else. We were wrong. Receiving the diagnosis One evening in October, I found that I had a stuffy nose. Out of an abundance of caution, I avoided people and…

Two stories--with different endings. The first, from November 11th, 2020.  Suma, a 38 year old Hakki Pikki tribal woman---the Hakki Pikkis are a nomadic community originally from Gujarat but now settled in Karnataka over the past several generations---was discovered in an almost comatose state by a young health volunteer while doing a COVID survey. Suma was critically ill with chronic anaemia.  She was immediately taken to the local government hospital from where they decided to shift her to a “big hospital” in the city since they were ill-equipped to deal with the case. Unfortunately, and not surprisingly, the “big hospital”…

We are nearing the end of a year that none of us ever imagined we’d have to live through. So much of what we practiced, what we believed to be ‘normal’, has proved to be as vulnerable as a reed in a storm. Our lives have changed radically and so have our festivals, with restrictions galore on traditional customs, rituals and celebrations. But surely, we do not need COVID to tell us that we ought to move away from celebrations with firecrackers?  Yes, the coronavirus has indeed made that move much more pressing, creating as it does a lethal mix…