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Interviews | Kanuru Sujatha Rao, former Union health secretary and a past Takemi Fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health, interviewed by GS Mudur (The Telegraph)
 Kanuru Sujatha Rao, former Union health secretary and a past Takemi Fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health, interviewed by GS Mudur (The Telegraph)

Kanuru Sujatha Rao, former Union health secretary and a past Takemi Fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health, interviewed by GS Mudur (The Telegraph)

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published Published on May 1, 2020   modified Modified on May 11, 2020

-The Telegraph

Govt should ensure infection did not slip into green zones

Some public experts, while acknowledging India’s early initiatives to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, have expressed concern about what they believe are signals of inadequate planning and poorly coordinated responses to the pandemic.

The Telegraph had requested former Union health secretary Kanuru Sujatha Rao, who had spent in the health sector 20 of her 36 years as an IAS officer, to share her thoughts about how India has handled the epidemic. Rao was the Union health secretary in 2009-10.

“It is important to find independent voices and contrary opinions to optimise final decisions,” Rao, who has been a Takemi Fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health, said.

She highlighted the absence of epidemiologists at the helm of India’s responses and said the lockdown imposed with only four hours’ notice has been problematic.

Rao said the quicker India moved out of the lockdown the better, but the government should through micro-planning ensure the infection did not slip into the green zones.

Excerpts from an interview follow:

Q: How would you describe India’s response? Could things have been done differently? Do you see avoidable mistakes or judgement errors?

Rao: The challenges the Centre and the state governments are facing are extraordinary. In hindsight it is always easy to find something that could have been done better or differently. This virus is like no other — in its speed, stealth and virulence — and calls for highly sophisticated responses.

Very little is known about this virus. So a response is beset with uncertainties and unknowns that necessitate doing by learning — step by step. Given these circumstances, there is an urgency to fall back upon the science of epidemiology, past experience — after all, this is not the first time India (has encountered) a new virus — and a careful weighing of options based on evidence.

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Image Courtesy: The Telegraph


The Telegraph, 1 May, 2020, https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/coronavirus-outbreak-in-india-public-experts-express-concern-about-inadequate-planning-and-poorly-coordinated-responses/cid/1769441


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