From October 2014 to January 2015 : Lethargy writ large
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: January 17, 2015 -
October 2014 to January 2015. This is a pretty long time, especially when it comes to something like dogs going rabid and the number of dog bites cross the three figure mark in a span of less than four months.
Take the statistics of more than 10 people dead from dog bite and it becomes alarming.
Disturbing it certainly is but equally disturbing, if not more, is the news that the Health Director had not received any official report and had heard about it only from the reports which appeared in the newspapers.
This was on January 14 when he visited Churachandpur to take stock of the situation there.
Implicit in the admission of the Health Director is the point that the district administration had failed to send any message to Imphal.
The Health Director had no reason to lie and herein lies the tragedy.
What stopped the district administration from highlighting the situation to Imphal ?
Lethargy is written large over this failure and this is something which should not be tolerated.
Not asking for a witch hunt, but the situation merits stern action from the Government. Or on second thoughts this could be asking for too much, for this how Government machineries practically function in the State.
However when this starts to take a toll on human lives then it is time to draw the line and ring out the message that lethargy and indifference will not be tolerated.
It was only after the Health Director visited Churachandpur that the State Veterinary Department got its act together and started doing the spadework to contain the situation or face the challenge befittingly.
There could be numerous factors for warm blooded creatures, particularly dogs, to become rabid but the indifference is something which cannot be missed that easily.
The Health Department and the Veterinary Department seem to have woken up to the gravity of the situation, but so far there is nothing much yet to show that it has caught the attention of the State Government.
Apart from vaccinating the dogs and administering anti-rabies vaccine to the people, what are the other practical steps that have been taken up by the Government ?
What is stopping the Government from launching a media blitzkrieg to sensitise the public to the issue ?
Moreover what preventive measures have been taken up in the other districts ?
This is not the time to molly coddle the issue for at stake are human lives. This is also about something as fundamental as health care.
Ignorance can take a heavy toll and put in an indifferent and insensitive Government and the sense of tragedy becomes all that more palpable.
Educate the public, take up all measures and give it prime publicity so that other districts are not affected.
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