If China was severely criticised for keeping the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak that began in November 2019 shrouded in secrecy and for sharing the genetic sequence on a public database only on January 12, 2020, countries that are transparent and quick in sharing vital information are not rewarded but are punished. After the first infection by a new variant — it has 32 mutations in the spike protein alone — was confirmed from a specimen collected on November 9, Botswana and South Africa diligently posted its genetic sequence on the public database, on November 23. Instead, the travel bans now imposed on South Africa and a few other African countries are not only incongruous but can actually be counterproductive. Such rash decisions disincentivise countries from promptly reporting and sharing vital data with huge public health implications, particularly during the pandemic. The demonstration by Botswana and South Africa of their capability to quickly detect new variants through superior
A Bill that the government of the land intends to make law, cannot be exclusivist at the very outset; and at least, with the time of passage, it is imperative that it loses its biases. It cannot exclude certain categories of citizens from the benefits and rights that the law seeks to confer upon the people of the country. And, that is what the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2020, that was passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, has done, by excluding two categories — LGBTQIA+ and single men. Undoubtedly, the time has indeed come for such a Bill; for government intervention to regulate the field of fertility treatments, and by seeking to establish a national registry and registration authority for all clinics and medical professionals in the segment, it will fill a vacuum. The Bill has provisions to protect the rights of the donors, the commissioning couple and the children born out of ART, to grant and withdraw licences for clinics and banks depending on performance
