Hirra Azmat from Srinagar has had a hard time making her grandmother, Hajra Begum, understand social distancing. “She can’t come to terms with this new form of imprisonment called quarantine,” said 26-year-old Azmat. Begum, 80, gets so annoyed that she even threatens to retaliate. “Nani suffers from dementia and heart blockage,” said Azmat. “She missed her monthly follow-ups. Her body aches have increased and she needs a change of medication for symptomatic relief.”
Getting care for non-Covid-19 ailments has been a nightmare in India in the last three months. With the focus on tackling Covid-19, the rising burden of non-communicable diseases is being neglected. Those with acute and life-threatening problems like snake bites and pneumonia also find it difficult to get treated.
At All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the OPDs remain closed. “Even now, they are not planning to open the OPDs,” said a senior AIIMS doctor who wished to remain anonymous. “So, no new patient can come in. Even the old ones cannot come. If liquor shops and malls can be opened, why not OPDs?” Currently, only trauma and cancer surgeries are being done in the hospital, and chemotherapy and radiotherapy are not being offered to all patients, said the doctor. A 200-bed trauma centre in AIIMS has been converted into a Covid-19 hospital. “Nowhere in the world has a tertiary centre been converted into a Covid-19 hospital. It just shows how rotten our health care system is,” he said.
Denne historien er fra June 28, 2020-utgaven av THE WEEK.
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Denne historien er fra June 28, 2020-utgaven av THE WEEK.
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William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
The bleat from the street
What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.
Courage and conviction
Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case
EPIC ENTERPRISE
Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus
Upgrade your jeans
If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.
Garden by the sea
When Kozhikode beach became a fertile ground for ideas with Manorama Hortus
RECRUITERS SPEAK
Industry requirements and selection criteria of management graduates
MORAL COMPASS
The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode
COURSE CORRECTION
India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI
