21st century is marred by the outbreak of various zoonotic diseases. Be it the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Ebola haemorrhagic fever, Nipah virus encephalitis, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Swine Flu (H1N1) or Bird Flu (H5N1).They have resulted in millions of fatalities around the globe. The new addition in this line is the new strain of coronavirus i.e. SARS-CoV2 which has resulted into COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 pandemic is notified as ‘’biological’’ disaster by the government of India. Hence it is important to understand the meaning of “biological disaster” and assess India’s preparedness with respect to handling of a “biological disaster”.
Biological Disaster
As per National Disaster Management Act (2005), Biological Disasters are “causative of process or phenomenon of organic origin or conveyed by biological vectors, including exposure to pathogenic micro-organisms, toxins and bioactive substances that may cause loss of life, injury, illness or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic disruption, or environmental damage.
Examples of biological disasters include outbreaks of epidemic diseases, plant or animal contagion, insect or other animal plagues and infestation. Biological disasters may be in the form of – Epidemic and Pandemic.
Means to Counter Biological Disaster
Constitutionally health is a state subject and the primary responsibility of dealing with a biological disaster rests with the state government. There are a number of legislations that control and govern the nation’s health. Government can enforce these legislations to contain the spread of disease. Some of the commonly used legal instruments are:
Infrastructure at National Level
At National level various institutions which are responsible to deal with biological disaster are Following:
Infrastructure at State Level
At State level various institutions which are responsible to deal with biological disaster are as follows:
Infrastructure at District Level
At District level various institutions which are responsible to deal with biological disaster are as follows:
Non-governmental Organizations
Nongovernmental organizations form an important part of civil society. Mostly consisting of people who are socially aware and have lot of flair for public service, they try to supplement the effort of the government delivery system.
Though these NGOs are quite forthcoming for extending help to the government agencies during natural calamities, their help in case of biological disaster is not guaranteed because of the fear factor associated with such emergencies. It is therefore important to have periodic liaison with such groups and train them so that they can act as force multipliers towards government effort of disaster mitigation.
Issues Pertaining to Management of Biological Disasters
Managing biological disasters could be tricky due to various issues acting as a constraint which includes,
Solutions
Following measures can be adopted to counter biological disaster like COVID-19:
Conclusion
In terms of bio-defence preparedness, India has taken the basic precautions and has an elementary structure in place. Not only legal structures, India has also established a vast network of institutions from civil defence at the local bodies level to the military and para-military forces at the national level.
The problem in India’s bio-defence mechanism is in terms of coordination between the various agencies, lack of medical resources and proper action plan. This inadequate state of bio-defence preparedness needs to be overhauled on a war footing to deal with any future exigency because time and tide will wait for none.