IT IS ALSO A DEVELOPMENT

                                   

For last one year, due to the recently concluded assembly elections and upcoming parliamentary suffrage, we have been hearing at high decibel the tall claims of developments by the ruling parties and with instant rebuttals by the opposition. In this political cacophony, the real situation appears to have been lost somewhere. It will be foolhardy to discard all developments as the country has marched ahead strongly on many fronts. One remarkable among them is the health sector.

The present generation may be unaware of epidemics. Till 1950s, the country, particularly in rural areas regularly fell victim of several epidemics which mercilessly took huge tolls of costly lives. People preferred to have at least half a dozen of children so that a couple of them might survive. The worst was plague. We remember that when dead mouses fell down from the thatched roof of any house, the whole village was vacated immediately and the residents would shift to the nearby mango groves. Even then people died in hundreds. The people of neighbouring villages would avoid to visit the affected village. Today, the whole country is free of this deadly disease.

The second epidemic was small-pox. Particularly the minor and young children were subjected to this endemic disease. Though not deadly to casualty level, it made people ugly and sometimes crippled for life. The rustic vaccination available since pre-independence days, was not effective. For last over two decades, the disease has been effectively tamed. Similarly, the Govt. under a dedicated campaign has made available necessary vaccination and medicines to eradicate TB, cholera, malaria and leprosy.

The most successful and internationally acclaimed success on medical front is India’s victory on the war over polio. You must be seeing lame boys and girls whose life was made hellish by this crippling disease. The last polio case was reported from West Bengal some three years ago. Since then, no new case has been noticed. The WHO has decided to declare india polio-free. But this does not give us any room for complacency. It is a contagious disease and may come from foreign countries. Peshawar, in Pakistan is notorious for being the hub of polio virus. India should be strict in giving visas to such nationals if no properly vaccinated. It is also a breathtaking development and the country can rightly feel proud of this achievement.