India’s Fight Against COVID -19 -The Success Story

-- Ankita Santhosh, VI-C, FAIPS-DPS

Sunday, January 15, 2023

In March 2020, a New York-based foreign affairs analyst predicted a disaster in India as the COVID-19 pandemic left no territories untouched from its wrath. "Foreign Policy" questioned the effectiveness of India's lockdown. Two months later, this is what its headline said - India has bungled its coronavirus crisis.

Here is what The Boston Review said about India in July 2020 - "The government’s inadequate and impetuous management of the pandemic reflects an effort to win international approval by following the paradigm of advanced economies, without heeding the ethical urgency of providing a robust program of relief, both medical and economic".

Based solely on facts, it's safe to say that India is now emerging as a success story in fighting COVID-19, far from "bungling" the pandemic response. Developed countries are still struggling to cope with the virus. Now, India is recording a steady decline in cases. India has the highest recovery rate among all the worst-affected countries at 97.3 per cent. In the United States, this number is just 64.5 per cent, and in the United Kingdom, it's 53.5 per cent. In addition, India's case fatality rate is below 1.5 per cent.

Vice-Chancellor of the Maharashtra University of Health sciences, lieutenant General Madhuri Kanitkar felicitated the Covid Warrior and health workers in Vidarbha on March 29.

She was Deputy Chief Integrated Defence Staff before joining the MUHS in the capacity of vice-chancellor. One of the core member of the national-level experts team that took key decision regarding India‘s Fight against Covid-19,Dr Kanitkar termed the battle as ‘historical’ and ‘one of the biggest success stories in the modern history of health science’.

Global level media houses and agencies had openly claimed that people will die like flies in India as we had very limited resources to cater 130 crore+ population. But the way we fought against the virus on all four fronts-Government ,scientist ,doctors and public-we gave such a fight that it has become an ideal for other countries.
A pediatrician by training said made in India vaccines are proved safe and effective on kids and parents should go for vaccination of their children without any hesitation.

Our doctors look lead in saving lives during the pandamic.Scientists came up with multiple indigenously developed vaccines. We have successfully vaccinated over 75% population .These are not just achivements but milestones that all Indians are proud of.

On this occasion, the Nagpur regional centre of the MUHS felicitated the vice-chancellor who was on her maiden visit to Nagpur.They felicitated her with reverence and adulation for her esteemed services to nation said Dr Sanjeev Chaudhary, well-known Orthopaedic Surgeon from Nagpur, who is also a Regional

India’s COVID management is a great success story and proved to be a torch bearer for the rest of the world. ‘Jan Andolan’ and ‘Jan Bhagidari’ have been key pillars and leadership, innovation, dedication, partnership, sharing and leveraging technology proved to be decisive in this process. Administration of more than 181 Crore Vaccine Doses has significantly contributed to our success in management of third surge also. Delivering the keynote address at “Aksha’ – Lessons from India”, an event organized by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare threw light on this huge success story, which the entire world has appreciated.

Country Heads and Representatives from Development Partners such as WHO, UNICEF, UNDP, USAID, ADB and BMGF also participated in this event. It was organized to take key lessons and share experiences and best practices from India’s COVID management and vaccination journey.

Dr. Mandaviya highlighted that India presented an exemplary model of COVID management with Centre and States working in unison in a federal democracy. Jan Andolan and Jan Bhagidari are key pillars of India’s COVID management strategy. Dr. Mandaviya reminded the audience that several studies had made ill-informed predictions and assumptions on the impact of the pandemic in India but India’s political leadership took decisive actions at crucial times in a strategic manner by learning from and amalgamating best global practices with our own approach to manage the pandemic. Appreciating the contribution of healthcare workers in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr Mandaviya applauded their motivation and dedication. In this context, the Minister also highlighted the innovative ways in which the Prime Minister encouraged them to contribute their best.On the government’s efforts in controlling the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr Mandaviya said, it was a joint effort by multitude stakeholders like NGOs, CSOs, industry, development partners. Administration of more than 181 Crore doses has contributed to our success in management of third surge.

He underscored the fact that despite the huge diversity of geographies and population, India demonstrated how a huge vaccination drive can be mounted at scale.

Dr Mandaviya also stated that in keeping with Indian ethos and tradition, the country supplied COVID 19 vaccines with the world even before our own vaccine requirement was fully met. He also added that India did not exhibit any arrogant behavior in the process, but shared what it produced. We have provided medicines such as HCQ to many countries. We did not compromise on quality or bargain with the price. The Union Minister furthered that “India’s success story presents takeaway for other countries to emulate, just as we are always open to learning from global best practices. On this occasion, Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary, noted that the Union government acted on a proactive mode since the onset of the pandemic to address the various challenges of vaccine roll-out across the country, vaccine production as well as vaccine hesitancy among the people. He highlighted that India has already covered 96% of India’s 15+ population with the first dose of the COVID 19 vaccine. Dr. Balram Bhargava, DG, ICMR, noted that India has made a mark in the world in terms of vaccine production and vaccine delivery. He also added that “a great journey lies ahead for India to make new discoveries in the world for other diseases.

Through a presentation, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, pointed out that India undertook a scientific approach for management of COVID 19. He highlighted that a whole of the government approach, robust communication strategies, effective use of digital and technological tools and a mammoth effort on the part of grassroots health workers helped India in going to the last mile towards vaccinating its people. Dr. Roderico Ofrin, Country Director, WHO outlined the sheer number of people, vaccination centres, cold chains and other associated networks employed in the mammoth vaccination exercise across India. He praised the country’s vaccine manufacturing capability, stating that India is already a vaccine superpower in the world as over 70% vaccines for various antigens in the world are manufactured in India. Shoko Noda, UNDP Resident Representative said that India’s COVID 19 vaccination drive is unparalleled across the world. She further said that India’s vaccination success story is a reflection of the commitment and dynamism displayed by the leadership of the country towards meeting the challenge of the pandemic. Yasumasa Kimura, Deputy UNICEF India Representative congratulated India for the world’s largest vaccination drive. He said that India’s vaccination model has been very important in defining the global trajectory of the COVID 19 pandemic. Dr. Chris Elias, President, BMGF appreciated “India’s remarkable achievements and incredible efforts towards managing the COVID 19 pandemic”. He asserted that “Innovation is a regulatory decision to balance speed with safety with respect to vaccines, which India has taken promptly and proactively. It has developed CoWIN as a public good, which can be used elsewhere also to increase the delivery pace of vaccines”.

Ankita Santhosh, VI-C, FAIPS-DPS