Many lives could have been saved: Parliamentary panel raps govt on Covid toll

Lawmakers on Monday slammed the Union Health Ministry for its failure to pick up early signals of the devastating second Covid-19 wave leading to a delay in the implementation of the containment measures, which could have saved many lives.

“Had the Government been successful in identification of the more virulent strain of virus in the population at an early stage and suitably implemented its containment strategy, the repercussions would have been less grave and many lives could have been saved,” the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health said in its 137th report that was presented to the Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankar on Monday.

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The panel of MPs, headed by veteran Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav, said the committee was “disturbed at the unfortunate denial” by the ministry regarding Covid deaths due to oxygen shortage in the country.

Taking note of the media reports on deaths due to oxygen shortage, the lawmakers in their report noted an “absence of empathy in the government parlance” as it did not take such deaths into account.

They, however, noted that there were no definite guidelines for identifying the deaths due to inadequate supply of oxygen.

“Oxygen shortage is not noted as a cause of death in the medical records and most of the deaths were attributed to co-morbidities. The Committee is disappointed at this utter ignorance by the government and strongly recommends the ministry to examine the number of deaths due to oxygen shortage especially during the second wave.”

“The ministry, in coordination with the states, must audit the deaths due to oxygen shortage and enable robust documentation of the Covid deaths. The ministry must meticulously examine the oxygen-stricken Covid deaths and ensure that proper compensation is accorded to the families of the victims.”

Taking note of the government's failure not to have any pre-purchase agreement with vaccine manufacturers, the committee in its report noted that a better assessment of the vaccine requirement could have accelerated the vaccination drive.

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On the homegrown vaccine, the Committee said it was perplexed to note that the government took no major initiative to waive the intellectual property rights for the indigenous vaccine Covaxin which was developed in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research.

“The Committee strongly recommends to examine the possibility of technology transfer of Covaxin to the public sector units and start its production in these units,” the report noted.

The Standing Committee submitted six different reports on the health sector to the Rajya Sabha chairman.