Is the Disease a Herculean Job? A Public-Health Specialist in India’s Disease Tracking System and its Implications for Migrant Workers
Scientists say India is set to miss its deadline to eradicate the disease because of an outbreak of the disease. India has recorded over 12 thousand cases of the disease this year, making it the largest outbreak in the world in the next year.
A specialist in infectious-diseases at the University of Maryland says that the goal is far away. “Now, it is a Herculean job to be able to catch up everyone who missed.”
One year of low vaccination coverage is not likely to lead to a large outbreak, according to an Epidemiologist in Chennai. “It is basically a cumulative phenomenon.”
The health departments for Mumbai city and the state of Uttar Pradesh did not respond to Nature’s questions about their immunization campaigns. The nation’s ministry of health and family welfare did not address any queries about missing the deadline.
Scientists say surveillance is key to finding outbreaks and launching immunization campaigns. According to Giridhar Babu, an epidemiologist at the Public Health Foundation of India in Gurugram, the tracking system for the disease is not consistent and that does not mean that there is no problem.
India’s public-health system also tracks pregnant women — many of whom give birth at their parents’ home — and their infants. But the system often loses track of them after a few months, says Babu. Consequently, there is a steep drop-off in vaccinations for measles–rubella after that point, he says.
India has 450 million migrant workers who can be missed by the tracking system, according to a public-health researcher.
Global Issues in the 21st Century: The Role of COVID-19 in World Health and Immune System Security, Public Works, and Social Welfare
In many places, life was back to normal in 2022, as countries were free of symptoms of the swine flu. Governments retreated from mask-wearing mandates and ended all school lock downs. International travel resumed.
There were optimistic proclamations, too. In January, the Prime Minister of Danes declared that the SARSCoV-2 is no longer a threat. US President Joe Biden made a statement in September that the Pandemic was over. Even Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), has expressed hope that COVID-19’s designation as a global emergency will end in 2023.
Elsewhere, repeated surges in infection and death are giving way to a constant thrum of loss, as well as debilitation caused by long COVID. The fights against AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis have been affected by a focus on COVID-19. Death rates in many countries are still higher than they were before COVID-19 hit.
The politics and power dynamics that undermined the initiatives to ensure vaccine access for all nations must be reckon with by the global community. Unless that happens, future global agreements could be similarly undermined in times of crisis. In May, the WHO will deliver a progress report on deliberations on an international instrument for pandemic preparedness and response. The countries that missed out on timely access to COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments will argue that the agreement should ensure more equitable access to resources in the event of a future epidemic.