TIME TO BUILD AN EFFICIENT HEALTH SYSTEM

THOUGH THE THREAT FROM THE SARS-CoV2 VIRUS IS BY NO MEANS OVER, INDIA’S HEALTH SYSTEMS CANNOT BE OVERCOMMITTED TO A SINGLE DISEASE

- K. SRINATH REDDY

China recently opened its long-locked doors to a flood of COVID-19 infections. The US and Canada are experiencing a ‘tripledemic’ of still-around COVID, visiting-again influenza and came-early respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) travelling together. India had been breathing easy for several months, recently recording the lowest number of new cases and deaths since the virus landed in January 2020. The SARS-CoV-2 is less threatening now, due to linking of higher infectivity with lower virulence, thereby decoupling ‘counts of cases’ and ‘deaths’. India’s past viral waves and high vaccine coverage have also added a protective layer of acquired immunity against severe illness. The health ministry has called for vigilance against possible threat from new variants entering from abroad. In particular, the current Chinese experience is causing considerable concern.

COVID-19 has certainly not disappeared from the list of infections we have to deal with in 2023. The virus is still around, but mostly as a settler come to stay than as an invader that destroys and departs. There will be periodic flurries of rising infections with new generations of Omicron variants, but there will be no Delta-like death toll unless a new variant emerges to display both high virulence and high transmissibility. We need our health systems to be on alert and ready to respond to a threatening variant, but should not be overcommitted to a single disease. Our health agenda demands attention and impactful action on many fronts beyond COVID-19.