Scientists seek greater transparency on Covid-19 data; write to PM Modi

Over 400 scientists have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking wider access to the granular testing data that ICMR has been collating since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Against the backdrop of the raging pandemic, the scientists underscored the need for systematic collection and timely release of data on – large-scale genomic surveillance for new variants; testing and clinical data for better predictions of the spread of infection; the clinical outcomes of hospitalized patients; and immune response to vaccination in our population.

“Access to clinical data (with appropriate safeguards for maintaining patient privacy), which is required for analysis and predictions, and for estimation of the requirements for oxygen, medical supplies, ventilators, ICU beds, etc. Many scientists have been trying to get data on comorbidities and blood analysis of hospitalized Covid-19 patients, without success,” the letter signed by eminent scientists like Partha Majumder, L S Shashidhara, Jacob John, Gautam Menon, Satyajit Rath among others.

The ICMR database is inaccessible to anyone outside of the government and perhaps also to many within the government. Most scientists – including several identified by DST and NITI Aayog to develop new prediction models for India – do not have access to these data, the letter has said.

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“Public health measures in India should necessarily vary from one local area to another, because there is a great geographical variability in patterns of spread of the infection due to local conditions. This necessitates detailed analysis of large-scale granular epidemiological data available with ICMR,” the scientists said.

They also said the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ policy has made importing of scientific equipment and reagents an extremely tedious and time-consuming process, requiring approval at the level of the Secretaries of Ministries or Departments.

“This has reduced our ability to scale up testing by developing new testing platforms and has impaired our ability to sequence viral genomes for surveillance rapidly and accurately,” the scientists said.

“Adequate encouragement and support by the Government are required for our country to become Aatmanirbhar in the future. Such restrictions, at this time, only serve to impede our ability to deal with Covid-19. We request the withdrawal of these restrictions,” the scientists said.