Comprehensive approach of the government, good governance essential to fight the pandemic, says Chief Scientist of WHO

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO), while delivering virtual Key Note Address during “Meet the Doctor" series organised by Association of Indian Universities (AIU) in the national capital on 11 June elaborated in detail about epidemic curve by regions, notified cases and global variants of concern.

The Chief Scientist of WHO while speaking on the topic, “Covid-19 Global to Local Management” said, “All the four variants are transmissible. The Delta variant has been found to be 15 percent more transmissible than the Alpha variant. Alpha variant was itself more transmissible than the original Wuhan strain. On disease severity, we have evidence that Alpha variant may causes more severe illness and we have seen in India lot more people got infected. But whether it is because of the variants or some other causes or other factors that needs to be looked at and require through research. However none of these variants had impact on the diagnostic which is good.”

The Chief Scientist added, “On the impact of variant on vaccine in which all are interested said, “The Beta variant which was South African variant and the Delta both of them have some capacity to evade the immune responses. They need a high level of antibodies in the blood and the vaccines are still effective. But probably you may need two doses of vaccines and the immunity is going to last for a longer period these are questions which still requires to be answered. As of now, what we know is the vaccines which are being used including Covaxin and Covishield two dose regiment are effective and have 90 percent protection against severe diseases. None of the vaccines are 100 percent protective and their protection against infection is little less than protection against the disease.

While citing a survey from the WHO on essential services disruption during to Covid-19, she said, “WHO did a pulse survey in the middle of the last year and again repeated it in the beginning o 2021 what we have found that countries were asked about the 35 essential services and they were asked how many of these were disrupted. Last year 96 percent countries had reported disruptions. And 25 percent countries had reported disruption in 75 to 100 percent. Only 4 percent countries reported no disruptions. This year 11 percent countries said they had no disruptions but still 89 percent countries reporting disruptions in services. The lower the development status of the country the greater is the disruptions. If we look at survey early 2021 we find that even life saving, critical care interventions, operations were disrupted in 20 percent of the countries. And this obviously would have an impact on health outcome.”

On the lessons from Covid-19 and on the way the way forward, Dr Swaminathan said, “Resilience elements characteristics of effective country responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. Comprehensive whole of government approach and good governance, adapt capacity of health system in all of its building blocks (leadership, financing, workforce, medical products and technologies, public health functions and health service delivery), preserve health system functions and resources and reduce vulnerability.” The Chief Scientist also explained impact of Covid on economy, development, science and research.

On the initiative of "Meet the Doctor" series by AIU, Dr. (Mrs.) Pankaj Mittal, Secretary General, Association of Indian Universities (AIU) who has also served as Vice Chancellor, BPS Women University, Govt. of Haryana and Additional Secretary, UGC, Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India said, “As COVID was spreading its wings, a lot of confusion persisted in the minds of people, especially, Vice Chancellors, on how to handle COVID situation at home or in the campuses, what should be the line of treatment, what precautions should be taken while reopening the campuses, how to deal with mental stress of students due to online education, isolation and fear of COVID, What are the right ways of masking, isolation and sanitization to be observed on campuses especially in common areas like mess, library, common room, classrooms, labs etc., isolation centers on campuses, vaccines policy, availability, administration, gaps etc.

Dr Mittal added, “Although some of this knowledge was available in public domain, no authentic source was available to address the queries and apprehensions in the minds of the Vice Chancellors. Therefore, AIU initiated the “Meet the Doctor" series to provide a platform to the academia for getting such issues resolved directly from the best minds of the country. The experts so far have been Dr Naresh Trehan, Dr J C Suri, Dr Randeep Guleria, Dr Balram Bhargavv and Dr Soumya Swaminathan.”

On the feedback received from the Vice Chancellor of different universities and how these series can be useful to students and other, the secretary general of AIU said, “There has been an overwhelming response from the VCs. They simply loved the initiative and were so enthusiastic about it that the sessions, which were supposed to last for one hour, generally extended to one and a half to two hours. They are getting wiser on taking care of the health of the students, faculty and staff through these sessions. The series will help the universities to equip themselves better during and post COVID in smooth pursuing of teaching-learning with minimum health issues. The students can watch these series which are available on YouTube and AIU website to learn more about COVID, its treatment, precautions, vaccinations and above all how to display a COVID appropriate behavior to ensure that COVID has minimum impact on their health and studies.

I also tried to find out the views of some Vice Chancellors who attended the Meet the Doctor Series.

According to Prof. S.K.Srivastava, Vice-Chancellor of North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, “Recently, the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), New Delhi, has taken a praiseworthy initiative of organizing "Meet the Doctor" Series, online. In this webinar series, eminent and reputed Experts in Health Science & Medical profession are invited to address to the Vice-Chancellors of universities, and also an opportunity is provided for interaction of these medical experts with VCs. I appreciate the efforts of Dr. (Mrs.) Pankaj Mittal, Secretary General, AIU & officials for organizing "Meet the Doctor" series for Vice Chancellors.

He added, “By attending this series of lectures I have been immensely benefited from listening to those eminent Experts (from prestigious organizations like AIIMS, Medanta, ICMR & Fortis etc) ,and the Q&A sessions. As we all are passing through a dangerous covid19 pandemic phase, the topics covered in this Meet the Doctor series are about Covid19, its management, second wave, India's fight etc. As a Vice-Chancellor, being Head of the Institution, its also our bounden duty at this critical juncture to manage and prevent the spread of covid cases on my university campus.’

“Also, we have to put our best efforts and take pre-emptive measures to ensure that the students, faculties and nonteaching staff, all the families are safe. In fact, attending this program has been a great "Learning experience" for me personally and it directly/ indirectly is helping me to deal with covid disaster on the campus with more confidence, of course with active participation of the medical & administrative team here, he said.

Another Vice Chancellor, Royal Global University, Assam, Prof S P Singh said, “During this period of disaster, there are a lot of information floating around, some genuine and some fake, thus causing a lot of panic amongst all. With an aim to percolate genuine information to society, the series on “Meet the Doctor” conducted by AIU was the need of the hour. We could connect with the best of doctors in the country as well as with the physicians who were the part and parcel of policies framed and implemented during the pandemic.”

“Under such circumstances, when the fear of the unknown virus is rising amidst one and all, it becomes too crucial for the Vice Chancellors who are at the helm of the affairs to clarify doubts by interacting with the doctors to disseminate genuine information to the colleagues, students and the society at large. We got an opportunity to directly raise questions related to vaccination, essential medicines, gap between two doses, difference between the various vaccines etc. that were simplified by the doctors and experts, he added.

While referring to the last webinar on 5th June, 2021, Prof Singh said, “Dr. Balram Bhargava clarified the doubts/questions of all Vice-Chancellors including mine. My doubt as to when should one plan to get the Covid vaccine after recovering from the disease and priority vaccination for students in higher educational institutions was also prudently answered. We are very confident that with such efficient doctors and administrators at the leading positions in the country, the nation would certainly come out of this pandemic safe and sound. We salute the doctors and para medical staff for their noble and untiring services during the pandemic.”

“Because of the pandemic nature of the disease with very little known in the initial stage, even after one year, a drug or vaccine approved appropriately by the regulatory agencies worldwide is not available. All those currently approved have been approved under “Emergency Use Authorization” meaning that complete safety and efficacy data are lacking. The purpose of the University as narrated by Prof. Eric Thomas, University of Bristol, USA is “To provide not only self-directed learning such that they become independent and confident & give to society through leadership or civic duties, but also to generate knowledge & technology such that they are research institutions & generate new knowledge to change paradigm & aid society for its development meeting new challenges, said Prof. Ramesh K. Goyal, Ph.D. FIC, FAMS, FICN, FIPS, FNASc, FSCH, FIACS, Vice Chancellor Delhi Pharmaceutical Sciences & Research University, Delhi.

“President of AIU, Prof. Tej Pratap, and Secretary General Dr. Pankaj Mittal along with Dr. Alok Mishra Joint Secretary provided a feast of information and knowledge through top doctors. As a pharmacist and pharmacologist, I feel to have been blessed with this feast of knowledge. I could not have got such a vast, crisp and all round education of COVID-19. I am sure it will go a long way to educate and guide students of my University and contribute to fighting COVID-19 in the society and world at large. At the personal front, this has also given me a direction to take further the herbal medicine at the International level for the treatment of COVID-19 patients, he added.

Dr. Alok Mishra Joint Secretary, AIU said that Vice Chancellors of more than 800 Universities were invited for Meet the Doctor Series. The Secretary General and the President of AIU have guided us through their vision and intellect to make the series more productive and meaningful. It is a long term plan and we will invite national and international experts.