India Becoming A Hot Bed Of Diseases Like Dengue And Malaria

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By Dr. Sawraj Singh

India has already become the seventh largest economy in the world. After 2030, India is likely to move to third place. By 2050, China is likely to overtake America and become the largest economy of the world, and India may move to second place. Some people even feel that India will move to first place and push China to second place. There is hardly any disagreement that India is a formidable economic power and seems destined to be an economic superpower. However, India seems unable to control mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are spreading Dengue, Chikungunya and Malaria in ever-increasing numbers.

I was just visited an institution in Delhi. The Director of the Institution suffered from Dengue fever and the Deputy Director was suffering from Chikungunya. Delhi seems to have epidemics of Dengue fever and Chikungunya. It is obvious that even in our nation’s capitol; we have been unable to control mosquitoes. Contrary to popular belief, I am a Medical Doctor. In my medical school and until about a decade ago, I did not know that Dengue was a problem in India. Only this year, I became familiar with Chikungunya. Along with these two new diseases, Malaria is making a big comeback.

In the fifties, there were no TVs. However, public awareness about diseases such as Malaria and how to control those diseases, was being raised by documentary films. The Public Relations Departments showed such films in the neighborhoods. There were programs such as National Malaria Eradication Program and National Smallpox Eradication Program. Such campaigns proved highly successful. Even as a small child, I could feel that we were in a state of war with these diseases, and we wanted to beat them. We felt a sense of participation and we had hope that we will overpower these enemies one day. Now, it is different.

People seem to be resigned to and have accepted the fact that they have to live with the anarchy and feel convinced that nothing can be done and that they have to live in such conditions because they cannot be changed. Mosquitoes, stray animals, pollution and road collisions are the salient features of new India, the aspiring superpower.

It is quite obvious that the Swach Bharat campaign is not proving very effective. Mosquitoes are taking there toll on our population. The number of blood samples testing positive for Dengue in the laboratories, are increasing all over India. Similarly, the cases of Malaria are on the rise and the diseases previously unheard of, such as Chikungunya, are becoming more prevalent now. Recent research shows that the epidemic of Dengue is not cyclical anymore (the cases are very high one year, followed by a year with low cases) and each year the cases are increasing and becoming more dangerous. This is very concerning. My daughter, who is a practicing Gynecologist in the U.S., is visiting us. She just returned from the tiny island nation of St. Lucia (in the Caribbean) where she was vacationing. She told us that there the people seem to be winning the war against the mosquitoes. Fogging is done daily at 4:00 PM. They do not allow any stagnant water. If anyone sees stagnant water, then that person has to report it to the authorities. Fogging kills adult mosquitoes, whereas the larvae need to be killed in the water. In the last few years, I have only seen fogging done a couple of times. I do not know how effective it could be in getting rid of mosquitoes.

What could be the causes for mosquitoes challenging the superpower-in-the-making? It is not just a challenge. The mosquitoes seem to be winning the bout. I can think of a few things. The major reason seems to be our giving up our own model of development and adopting the western capitalist model. The western model has only given us a second-rated capitalism which is neither efficient nor effective. It has only helped a few to amass wealth while pushing a very big section of society into deprivation and poverty. Healthcare and education for all sections of society are no longer our priority. There is more stratification of society. On one hand, we have gated communities for the affluent. On the other hand, we have clusters of over-crowded slums mushrooming, which have not even a semblance of public health. They give us the feelings of complete chaos and anarchy.

Nehru’s model, with which we started after independence and which was a planned development taking the middle course between western capitalist and socialist models, has started looking better than the chaos and anarchy of today. Just like Non-Alignment and secularism, any kind of planning has become the victim of our tilt to the West. Dengue, Chikungunya and Malaria may be trying to tell us that the tilt towards the West is not working for the majority of the people. It is only serving the interests of the westernized elite. Even this class may not be able to escape the ill-effects of this model of development. It is difficult to keep the mosquitoes and the polluted air out by installing gates. Their affluence will not increase the quantity of oxygen in the air they breathe. In ancient Egypt, even the families of the pharaohs could not escape the epidemics of diseases. Even the great conqueror Alexander lost the battle against mosquitoes.

Dr. Sawraj Singh, MD F.I.C.S. is the Chairman of the Washington State Network for Human Rights and Chairman of the Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice. He can be reached at [email protected].