Medieval Europe was one of the dirtiest places on earth. People lived in vermin-infested, cramped dwellings and, if lucky, bathed twice a year. Ignorance reigned. The wealthy and aristocratic could bathe more, but believed water made one sick. Refuse, excreta, and offal were emptied on streets. The Black Plague that devastated Europe between 1346 and 1353 killed around 75-200 million people. Leeches and bloodletting, which Western doctors believed cured all ailments, didn’t help. Meanwhile, in India, surgery was practiced in 300 BC. So what happened in this country, which records an average of 40,297 malaria deaths annually?
It’s a lack of will. Last week, Sri Lanka officially conquered malaria. India’s health sector allotment is just 1.3 per cent of its GDP; Sri Lanka’s is 1.6 per cent. The island country reforged itself as a brave new nation after decades of civil war. If India had the will to eradicate polio, it can become malaria- or dengue-free too. Our public health systems are rife with mismanagement, corruption and irresponsibility—over 15,000 doctor vacancies exist at primary health centres. There is no obstetrician in 4,000 out of 5,000 community health centres.
India urgently needs to acquire the will to be a health superpower. It has a great medical heritage to draw upon. Sadly, ayurveda is marketed more in health spas, and yoga is seen as a cousin of pilates at health clubs. Western medicine is hailed as the greatest boon to India’s healthscape. From 1890 to 1900, however, only 10 Indians were allowed to enter the British-controlled Indian Medical Services. India allowed its medical streams to be Westernised, but does not officially Indianise contemporary health systems. Alternate medicine is re-exported to India as health fashion, but many Indians avoid ayurvedic physicians in the belief that antibiotics work better.
To combat this ignorance, native medical systems should be integrated with the global, which cannot happen without mass education. The best instruction systems are hybrids, where skills from diverse cultural streams meet. A country cannot reach its maximum potential in the health sector without it. But India has the biggest population of the world’s illiterate adults—287 million. Indians need to be academically directed about the virtues of hygiene to combat epidemics, the importance of waste management to the environment and the relevance of socially conscious lifestyle practices to community health. In short, like the medieval Europeans, do not wallow in filth. Do not be immune to oveflowing gutters and open drains where mosquitoes breed. Do not allow garbage to rot in dumps, where carriers of vector-borne diseases flourish. It is pointless to speak about progress while our countrymen chatter on smartphones and squat beside railway lines in the morning. The purpose of Swachh Bharat is not about cosmetic cleanliness or the PWD beautification of parks, or politicians and actors spending Sunday ack emma with groupies and brooms for photo-ops and selfies.
It’s not enough to pass a law. Educate citizens about why it’s been passed. It is not enough to just verbally glorify ancient India’s scientific prowess and boast of undocumented sci-fi inventions. India and Bharat have to come together and share the combined wisdom of tradition and technology to succeed as a world power.
ravi@newindianexpress.com