Daily Editorial Analysis for 1st April 2020

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Corona virus pandemic and need for a database of local knowledge

Paper: II

For Mains: Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation.

Context of News:

  • With the spike in number of corona virus hit patient cases in India, concerns have raised about the number of patients may be hired than what we are getting.
  • The prediction may turn out either way, but not because of the simulation model. Such cross-section models using multi-country data are, at best, a good way of organising data to give informed judgements. It’s like fitting a straight line between illness numbers and some speculative “cause” numbers of information on Indian states, from Tamil Nadu to Arunachal Pradesh, and using that line to make policy decisions.

What is Database in Health?

  • The term database embraces many different concepts:
  1. From paper records maintained by a single practitioner to the vast computerized collections of insurance claims for Medicare beneficiaries;
  2. From files of computerized patient encounter forms maintained by health plans to discharge abstract databases of all hospitals in a given state;
  3. From cancer and trauma registries maintained by health institutions and researchers to major national health survey data of different
  • As commonly used and meant a database (or, sometimes, data bank, data set, or data file) is ”a large collection of data in a computer, organized so that it can be expanded, updated, and retrieved rapidly for various uses.

Importance of Own Country Database in Health:

  • The health care information repository, when linked to the lifetime health record, is meant to be an integrated system that improves access, controls costs, gives consumers health care information, and improves quality of care. These outcomes are to be achieved through two proposed mechanisms :
  1. Feedback programs to share data on quality
  2. Public disclosure of information about providers
  • Cost factor:
  • Costs  rate of increase in aggregate health expenditures be moderated? Accurate estimates be made of the costs of care in given geographic areas. Health care delivery and administration be made more efficient? Administrative costs be reduced and  cost shifting within the public sector (e.g., between states and the federal government, or from the private to the public sector) be minimized.
  • Quality of care:
  • Quality of health services is organized so as to increase the likelihood of health outcomes that are desired by individual patients.information from these databases address three main quality problems: use of inappropriate and unnecessary services, underuse of appropriate and needed services, and poor technical and interpersonal performance?
  • Delivery of health services :
  • Delivery of health services can be improved by services which are appropriate and effective for what health care problems? Provision of those services varies across geographic areas, population groups, types of providers, settings of care, and time? Innovative approaches to health care delivery be designed so as to promote the goals of health reform.
  • Disease may incidence and public health ,What are the major causes of death, illness, and disability for different groups in the population? How are these patterns changing over time?

Way Forward:

  • It is important to generate and have ready knowledge for one’s own country for such crises we are facing today, rather than rely on global simulations where you are just a dot on a line. But we only look at information filtered by our corporate from their international collaborators for solving “local problems”.
  • For maximum accountability, security, protection, and control over access to data, responsible authority should have an organizational structure, a corporate or legal existence, and a physical location; for example, they would have a governing board, a staff, a building, and a mailing address. They would conduct business, articulate a mission statement, promulgate policies, implement procedures, and carry out manipulations and analyses of data, and they could be held accountable for their actions.
  • By maintaining Patient medical history data on previous medical encounters such as hospital admissions, surgical procedures, pregnancies and live births, and the like; it also includes information on past medical problems and possibly family history or events (e.g., alcoholism or parental divorce). Again, although such facts are significant for good patient care, they may also be important for case-mix and severity adjustment.By maintaining such data Govet can save huge amount money t5hat otherwise spend on healthcare in need of an hour.
  • Databases may never be sufficiently comprehensive for research or outcomes analysis, especially if the choice of core data elements is parsimonious. Thus, when the question at hand is health status and outcomes long after health care has been rendered, concerned authority or outside researchers may need the capability and authority to contact individuals (providers and possibly patients) for information about outcomes and satisfaction with care. Such outreach activities would require some adequate funding mechanism.

 


The markaz in Nizamuddin has thrown light on a malaise  and a challenge

Paper: II

For Mains: Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation.

Context of News:

  • It is incomprehensible that when the country is under lockdown and the Union and state governments are fighting a relentless war against a monstrous pandemic, a microscopic section of religious fundamentalists exposes large sections of the population to disease and fatality.
  • As per reports, the religious conference occurred between the 1st and 15th of March. At least eight people who had attended the event have died of the disease.  Several COVID-19 cases in the country have been traced to a religious gathering that took place in New Delhi’s Nizamuddin West mid-March. Nizamuddin area has been identified as one of the 10 “hotspots” where “unusual” transmission of corona virus has been detected.

What is Tablighi Jamaat?

  • The Tablighi Jamaat is a conservative Muslim organisation set up in 1926 by Maulana Muhammad Ilyas in Mewat (in present-day Haryana), and aims to spread religious knowledge among Muslims.
  • According to the Pew Research Centre (PRC), the Tablighi Jamaat, which translates to “society for spreading faith”, is a global educational and missionary movement whose “primary purpose” is to encourage Muslims the world over to be religiously more observant. According to the PRC, it is currently operating in over 150 countries, including countries in Western Europe.
  • How Tablighi workers operate?
  • Tablighi Jamaat workers, both foreigners as well Indians, undertake various activities across the country throughout the year.
  • Various nationals, particularly from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Kyrgyzstan, come to India for Tablighi Jamaat work. All such foreign nationals usually report their arrival at the Banglewali Masjid in Hazrat Nizamuddin, sources said.
  • Who are the followers?
  • According to the Stratfor report, most of the followers are of South Asian origin, though there are Tablighis from many different ethnic and national backgrounds. It is estimated that the organisation has somewhere between 70-80 million followers across the world, which makes it the biggest Muslim movement in the world.
  • As per the PRC, while the scope of the organisation seems to be limited to spreading the Muslim faith, the group has at times been accused of having ties to radical outfits, who, as per some observers, could take advantage of its loose organisational structure.

Connecting Dots:

  • It is quite evident that there was remarkable irresponsibility on the part of the administration of the Tableeghi Jamaat that has led to this utter catastrophe. However, attempts are underway to give them a free pass and instead harp on about some letters that the authorities had written to the Police a week ago. Those at Markaz, Nizamuddin were stuck due to the lockdown and had been in constant touch with the authorities thereafter. According to him, the Government is “Evil” to take action against them.
  • It’s quite clear that the Tableeghi Jamaat and authorities at the Markaz, Nizamuddin flouted all rules and regulations and jeopardized the safety and security of the country in the process.
  • Failure of police authority is another issue that is coming out of this issue. How come such large gatherings were happening under the nose of police and police didn’t take any action. Concerned authorities have either failed to stop the event or showed no inclinations to stop them.
  • It is also failure of government. How can you allow 300 foreigners enter India when the entire world is reeling under the corona virus outbreak? It is the responsibility of the central government to stop them.

Way Forward:

  • The markaz of the Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin is singularly responsible for the death of several persons and for passing on the corona virus infection. Whoever runs the markaz is culpable and must be punished under the relevant sections of the IPC.
  • This is shameful act that ,even after repeated warning these Islamic preachers involved themselves in such gathering ,risking both their life as well fellow countrymen life. Those involved in such gatherings should be charged with harshest of punishment.

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