Congress slams Centre over scathing Lancet editorial; demands Dr Harsh Vardhan's ouster

Slamming the govt over COVID mismanagement, ex-Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday, demanded Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan's resignation, citing a Lancet editorial. He opined that the Health Minister and the top doctors' panel must not have a say in decision-making and PM & an Empowered group must be tasked with handling the pandemic. The scientific journal Lancet criticised the Modi govt's mishandling of the COVID pandemic in India in a scathing editorial.

Chidambaram & Jairam Ramesh slam Modi govt

Similarly, ex-Union Minister Jairam Ramesh claimed that the 'government’s drumbeaters used editorials of the most prestigious Lancet to shower themselves with praise earlier', sharing the scathing editorial. Many top scientists too are agreeing with Lancet's view urging the govt to own up to its mistakes. India's apex medical body - Indian Medical Association too slammed govt's sluggish vaccine rollout, urging govt to impose nationwide lockdown.

Lancet slams Modi govt's mishandling of COVID

On Saturday, Lancet estimated that India may witness 1 million deaths from COVID-19 by Aug 1, slamming  the Modi govt for 'presiding over a self-inflicted national catastrophe'. Point out that the govt's COVID task force had not met in months, Lancet urged the govt to 'own up to its mistakes, provide responsible leadership and transparency and implement a public health response that has science at its heart'. India currently has 37,23,446 active cases, 1,79,30,960 recovered cases and 2,38,270 fatalities.

Noting that Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan declared that India was in the “endgame” of the epidemic in early March, Lancet opined that govt was creating an impression that India had beaten COVID-19, despite repeated warnings of a second wave and new strains.  "Modelling suggested falsely that India had reached herd immunity, encouraging complacency and insufficient preparation, but a serosurvey by the Indian Council of Medical Research in January suggested that only 21% of the population had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2," said Lancet. Pulling up the Modi govt for stifling removing criticism on Twitter, Lancet said that Centre preferred holding super spreader events (Maha Kumbh & political rallies), rather than controlling the pandemic.

After listing Modi govt's mishandling, Lancet advised Centre to increase vaccine supply and setting up a distribution campaign that will cover more than 65% of the population (over 800 million people). The journal also told that the govt must publish accurate data in a timely manner, and forthrightly explain to the public what is happening, including a nationwide lockdown. It added, "Genome sequencing needs to be expanded to better track, understand, and control emerging and more transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants", concluding "Modi's actions in attempting to stifle criticism and open discussion during the crisis are inexcusable".