Health-care revamp
A total revamp of the planning of oxygen supply to all hospitals in the country needs to be initiated at the earliest, headed by experts in the area. Be it vaccines, drugs, or oxygen, there is a shortage of all three. With the rapid spread of the virus and new variants of high infectivity such as N440K emerging in States such as Andhra Pradesh, it is time we heighten our guard against the virus. Unless the authorities concerned, including those at the helm of the government, get into firefighting mode and listen to the sane voices of scientists, doctors, and health workers, India is going to face a tough time. A wily virus will not hesitate to cause a third or fourth surge, especially when conditions are favourable.
Dr. Biju C. Mathew,
Thiruvananthapuram
Revive these institutes
A point about assistance to State biological production units and disease diagnostic laboratories (Editorial page, “A one health approach that targets people, animals”, May 4). Every State has a biological institute for the production of vaccines and diagnostics — not only livestock-specific diseases but also zoonotic diseases namely rabies, anthrax, etc. Till a few decades ago, these units were at the height of their performance in producing vaccines and diagnostics of quality and played a pivotal role in the eradication and the control of many a livestock and zoonotic disease. But over the years, they lost pace since they could not comply with regulatory standards such as good laboratory and manufacturing practices on account of procedural wrangles, which led to the shutting down of the production sections as they became economically unviable. If only these organisations had kept pace with private agencies they could have been a valuable adjunct in the present pandemic context in terms of vaccine production of vaccines and diagnostics.
Hence, it is imperative to infuse them with the necessary fiscal and infrastructural strength, and make them, once again, a hub for the production of vaccines and diagnostics. This can even be on a public-private partnership basis.
Dr. V. Purushothaman,
Chennai
