JOIN USIndian govt acts like a blind monkey: Scientists
“Indian government does not know the extent of the problem as nobody is allowed to study the NDM-1. The government acts like a blind monkey that would see no evil,” lead investigator of the study Timothy Walsh told Deccan Herald over telephone from Brisbane.
Walsh, a professor at Cardiff University, who is now teaching at the University of Queensland said, “If you do not look at the problem, you will never find. But the Indian government is not allowing any study to generate the data.”
The professor and his colleagues published a paper in the medical journal Lancet last week reporting presence of NDM-1 superbug in water samples collected in Delhi. They suggested shifting of NDM-1 gene to many microorganisms making them more dangerous because of their drug resistance.
Independent researchers endorsed that the study is “scientifically sound” and show “the grave potential for widespread dissemination of NDM-1 in the environment.” The super-bug cannot be treated even with carbapenem, the strongest antibiotic known so far. Union health ministry and Indian Council of Medical Research discredit the research and said NDM-1 as not a health threat. UK researchers on the other hand felt India should take the NDM-1 threat more seriously.
“NDM-1 could already be in the gut flora of millions of Indians. But without any surveillance system and Indian study, we will not know the real situation,” Walsh said.
Back in 2006, two Indian studies – conducted by AIIMS and Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences – discovered presence of carbapenem resistance in north and south India in thousands of samples. Since NDM-1 gene was unknown then, Indian scientists did not look for it. They found evidence in support of carbapenem-resistance and advised caution for doctors while prescribing the antibiotics.
“Our study is a corroboration of what Indian researchers have already found. We offered our help to the government but received only criticism. It’s a sad reflection on openness and transparency on scientific studies in India,” Walsh said. Mark Toleman from Cardiff University said :“If nothing is done about this problem in India and South Asia today, the situation in 8 years time is likely to be very grim,” he told Deccan Herald.