On Saturday, International medical journal “The Lancet” said in an editorial that India “squandered” its early successes in controlling Covid-19 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government could preside over “a self-inflicted national catastrophe”.
This observation comes within days when one of the most highly regarded global experts in the field of global health, Prof Ashish Jha had said that the Modi government’s refusal to accept advice from its own scientists as well as its refusal to be guided by indisputable data is one of the main causes of the present Covid-19 crisis in India.
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Dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, Professor Ashish Jha had also said that the Kumbh Mela shahi snans, held in March and April, when two and three million people gathered together without masks and social distancing, would be the biggest super-spreaders in this pandemic’s history.
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In a piece highly critical of the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the widely respected publication, “The Lancet” said that the success of India overcoming the crisis will depend on PM Modi’s administration “owning up to its mistakes”.
The journal said, “[PM] Modi’s actions in attempting to stifle criticism and open discussion during the crisis are inexcusable.”
The Lancet editorial said, “India squandered its early successes in controlling Covid-19. Until April, the government’s Covid-19 taskforce had not met in months. The consequences of that decision are clear before us, and India must now restructure its response while the crisis rages.”
It further added, “The success of that effort will depend on the government owning up to its mistakes, providing responsible leadership and transparency, and implementing a public health response that has science at its heart.”
The journal called out the government for giving out the impression that India had beaten Covid-19 after several months of low case counts, despite repeated warnings of the dangers of a second wave and the emergence of new strains.
The editorial of the journal Lancet said, “Before the second wave of cases of COVID-19 began to mount in early March, Indian Minister of Health Harsh Vardhan declared that India was in the “endgame” of the epidemic.”
Lancet further said, “Despite warnings about the risks of super-spreader events, the government allowed religious festivals to go ahead, drawing millions of people from around the country, along with huge political rallies-conspicuous for their lack of Covid-19 mitigation measures.”
Describing India’s vaccination policy “botched” and “falling apart” at the central level, the journal noted that the government abruptly shifted course without discussing the change in policy with states and has managed to vaccinate less than 2 percent of the population.
The Lancet journal also said, “At times, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has seemed more intent on removing criticism on Twitter than trying to control the pandemic.”
