Poor Need Food, Not Vaccine
The United Nations Security Council on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution upholding ‘vaccine equity’ and that the availability of Covid vaccine must be increased in conflict-affected and poor countries. This means that the United Nations is demanding that rich countries be stopped from getting the Covid vaccine on priority as it is depriving the poor countries of the vaccine. It appears that the decision of the United Nations is humane. But what are the actual demands of the poor countries in the difficult times of the Coronavirus?
According to the United Nations, poverty has increased across the globe due to the Coronavirus and this is set to substantially increase in the coming days. Similarly, crores of poor people have been kept out of the education system. Developing countries such as India are significantly reducing the budgetary allocation for education. Most importantly, fatal diseases such as tuberculosis have exploded in poor countries. It is already established that the Coronavirus is not a deadly disease. Poor countries are not demanding the Coronavirus vaccine but are anxious about food, education, and other diseases that are exacerbating. The United Nations should have extended a helping hand to poor countries in handling these issues but it appears that it has considered the Covid vaccine as the immediate necessity of these poor countries.
It is a truth that everyone understands that the coronavirus declined not due to any vaccine. Even though our country manufactured the vaccine, even well-informed people are hesitating to get themselves vaccinated. Health workers and even doctors have expressed their reservations. And the government has failed to meet its goal in providing vaccine. Politicians and government officials have not yet come forward to get themselves vaccinated. The government that has spent crores of rupees on the vaccines is trying to impose it on people by trying to spread the fear about the second wave of the Coronavirus through the media. It is also threatening the imposition of another lockdown. Initially, the government announced that poura karmikas would be vaccinated on priority. This meant that it had designed a programme of vaccinating poura karmikas first and based on the results of this drive, provide vaccine to others. But, objections were raised widely against such a design of making poura karmikas guinea pigs. This is the same reason why the United Nation’s decision seems suspicious.
Experts are now suspecting whether the decision has been taken to experiment with poor nations to establish whether the vaccine is successful or not. People are also beginning to question the concern of the United Nations about Covid when lakhs of poor people are dying due to the lack of treatment for fatal diseases such as tuberculosis and Cancer. During the lockdown, migrant workers had openly raised their objections against the government and had said “We are not scared of the Coronavirus but are scared of hunger.” Even now, poor countries are not unduly worried about the Coronavirus because these countries have witnessed more deaths and distress caused due to poverty than the Coronavirus and also due to other diseases for which people did not receive medicines. Yes, we must deal with the coronavirus. But it does not make sense to talk about the Coronavirus by neglecting abject poverty that has haunted the world for several decades.
According to the 2020 data of the World Health Organization, 45 per cent of deaths of children below five years of age is due to malnutrition. Across the world, about 47 million children are suffering anemia, 14 million children are suffering severe anemia, and 144 million children have stunted growth. Areas ravaged by conflict in the world are becoming huge hubs of poverty and malnutrition. Conflict and drought, deficient rainfall are causing deaths due to hunger. International agencies such as the World Health Organizations have warned about a possible increase in deaths (this has specifically increased during the Coronavirus) due to hunger in conflict-ridden areas. All these reports preceded the coronavirus. After the lockdown, the data throws up a very scary picture. The situation of farmers of small land holdings and labourers is very worrying with many losing employment opportunities due to the lockdown.
In the absence of transportation and connectivity issues, farmers have faced losses. Economically destroyed and distraught, they have reached a situation of having to sell their land. The government is also making adequate arrangements for farmers to sell their land with corporate forces using this situation to their advantage. If it is now being projected that the immediate need of farmers is vaccine, how can people believe this? In India at least, several controversies have erupted over the vaccine. The pride that the vaccine is indigenous seems to be working against it. The government should therefore increase the confidence among people about the vaccine. Politicians and senior government officials should first get vaccinated. Then, the poor will also feel confident about the vaccine. Instead of doing this, use of threats of another lockdown, prospects of a rising second wave, and emotional pressure as part of attempts to vaccinate the poor are not right. If the government wants to resort to such attempts, then it must provide insurance cover to all those who get vaccinated. The government should take the responsibility for any side effects due to the vaccine and provide appropriate compensation to the people.
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Kolkata, Apr 26: Authorities at the Kolkata airport on Friday received an email claiming bombs were planted at various places on its premises, triggering a frantic search across the facility, officials said.
However, the mail, which threatened that the bombs will explode at 12.55 pm, turned out to be a hoax, they said.
Security agencies at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport (NSCBIA) conducted a thorough search operation following the email, said Aishwariya Sagar, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Airport Division of Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate.
“After carrying out an extensive search operation, the security personnel concluded that the threat was a hoax,” she said.
Airport authorities, the CISF and the Bidhannagar Police are jointly carrying out an investigation to determine the origin and sender of the email, the officials said.
“We are in the process of tracking the origin of the email,” Sagar said.
