Humza Shaikh is an engineer by profession but the current healthcare crisis in India due to COVID-19 pandemic inspired him to manufacture Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), the dire need of which is seen all across the country.
With his start-up CHMI Indobionics started in 2017, Shaikh came up with the initiative to manufacture PPE’s by engaging around 4000 skilled and 1000 unskilled migrant labourers in the manufacturing process.
After it’s certification, the team started its first batch of production on 25 March.
“By the end of April, we finished the production of 50,000 PPE’s at our leased out manufacturing plants in Bombay, Kolkata and Bangalore,” Shaikh told TwoCircles.net.
Seeing the health care crisis across India, the team also ventured into making ventilators, which is under clinical trial. “We are planned to launch it soon after the certification process is over,” Shaikh said.
Shaikh claimed that its a unique ICU ventilator with all the required specifications. “It is an invasive product which works in coherence with the human body. The cost of this ventilator is between 1.5 to 2 lakh rupees which is comparatively very less than the traditional ventilator which costs 10-15 lakhs,” he said.
According to Shaikh, most of the labourers working with them were taken out of the rehabilitation camps and been provided with lodging and boarding facilities.
“We have ensured their safety and meals are provided and proper care is being taken with the implementation of social distancing norms and hygienic sanitation facilities,” he said.
The team led by Shaikh, have been catering to Sai Hospital and Municipal Hospital in Bombay, Rashtra Chemical Fertilisers in Ali Bagh and Indian Army in Guwahati.
The team has also been working with West Bengal government to provide them PPE’s and look forward to work with the states of Orissa and Karnataka.
The project which includes the collaboration of 3 start-ups is incubated in the central universities across India including the IIM’s and IIT’s. The project is funded by the science and technology department, Government of India and further aims to work constructively amid pandemic.
source: http://www.twocircles.net / Twocircles.net / Home > Indian Muslim> Lead Story> Pandemic – TCN Positive / by Mushira Ashraf / May 03rd, 2020
Every day at 9.00 am, three trucks loaded with ration kits leaves Khan’s godown to distribute ration kits to the villagers. These vehicles have essential pass provided by the local administration.
Narsulla Khan has supplied over 21,000 ration kits. (Express Photo)
A 40-year-old businessman from Valsad district has spent Rs 1.10 crore in more than a month to distribute ration kits to poor families in 35 villages in the district. Narsulla Khan who runs an electric panel manufacturing unit in Vapi GIDC has till date supplied over 21,000 ration kits.
Khan, a resident of Dungri falia in Vapi, began distributing the kits on March 27. He created a team of 70 people which included sarpanch of the 35 villages. Khan procured grocery items from wholesale traders in Valsad, Vapi, Navsari and Surat and the team helped put together the kits.
Every day at 9.00 am, three trucks loaded with ration kits leaves Khan’s godown to distribute ration kits to the villagers. These vehicles have essential pass provided by the local administration.
The kit comprises 10 kg rice, 5 kg wheat flour, 2 kg Tuver daal, 3 kg potato, 3 kg onion, 1 kg oil and 1 kg salt.
“The sarpanches and the team have the list of people who need help. So far we have covered or 35 villages and delivered 21,000 kits. I know what it feels like to sleep empty stomach. My father worked very hard to provide for us. By God’s grace, we have enough now. SO, I thought why not help the poor people during lockdown,” Khan said.
“We will continue supplying kits till the lockdown is lifted. The district administrations and even the police of Vapi have our numbers and they call us whenever anybody needs help,” he added.
Vapi taluka Mota Ponda village sarpanch Dhriubhai Ahir said, “The group helps whenever the delivery truck gets stuck anywhere or stopped by the police. Khan does not go out to deliver kits, it is distributed by his volunteers and sarpanches.”
source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> India / by Kamaal Saiyed / Surat – May 01st, 2020
Ayesha Sultana, who is from Hyderabad, was returning home on Tuesday night after completing her shift at the Al Ahli Screening centre in Dubai when she was stopped by a policeman.
For representational purpose. (Photo | EPS)
Dubai :
An Indian doctor in the UAE was moved to tears after her car was stopped during curfew hours and a policeman, instead of checking her documents, gave a salute, acknowledging her service during the coronavirus pandemic, according to media reports.
Ayesha Sultana, who is from Hyderabad, was returning home on Tuesday night after completing her shift at the Al Ahli Screening centre in Dubai when she was stopped by a policeman at the Dubai-Sharjah highway, the Khaleej Times reported.
Sultana said that she did panic initially but was focused on showing her work permit and other documents to prove that she was a doctor.
According to a report in the Gulf News, Sultana said she was pulling her ID and papers to show to the policeman but “he saluted me, saying I don’t need to show him anything.”
“I was speechless and cried. Despite (the fact that) I was tired (after) work but this salute was my reward and waived my tiredness,” she said.
“I was full of emotions at that moment and didn’t know what to do. I wish I knew his name or face as he was wearing (a) mask. I just want to thank him,” she was quoted as saying in the Gulf News report.
The doctor later tweeted: “As a UAE resident, this is the biggest day of my life THANKYOU.”
“Had tears in my eyes. I’m blessed to be in the UAE and serve the people here,” she tweeted.
Sultana, who was born and brought up in the UAE, said she did not expect she would be dealing with a pandemic when she passed out of the Dubai Medical College in February, the Khaleej Times reported.
“This is my home and I want to do my best in helping UAE fight the pandemic. We see around 200 to 300 people every day – both with and without symptoms. It is very rewarding and I am all the more committed to continue doing my job,” she said.
According to the Johns Hopkins University data, the UAE has over 11,000 COVID-19 cases with 89 deaths.
UAE had been under an overnight curfew since March 26 to stem the spread of the deadly disease.
Dubai had on April 4 imposed a two-week lockdown to contain the virus.
source : http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> World / by PTI / April 30th, 2020
The doctor’s colleagues said she was dressed in her best attire, the protective gear, on the day of her marriage, which was postponed on her request.
Kerala doctor decided to serve coronavirus patients instead of getting married during the outbreak(Sourced Photo)
Sunday, March 29 was supposed to be one of the happiest days in the life of a young Kerala doctor as she was all set to get married to a Dubai based businessmen. However, the critical battle against coronavirus meant that instead of getting married, she decided to don her protective gear and treat patients afflicted by the dreaded virus.
Meet 23-year-old, Dr Shifa M Mohammed, a house surgeon, who was busy at the isolation ward of the Pariyaram medical college hospital in Kannur on Sunday, March 29. Instead of bridal finery, the young anti-Covid-19 warrior donned the personal protection equipment (PPE) that day. ‘Marriage can wait, not my patients, who are struggling for their lives in isolation wards,’ she had told her groom and parents. Both of them readily agreed to her decision.
“In every girl’s, life wedding is an important event. But my daughter has put her social responsibility and professional commitment before her personal needs. When she suggested postponement of her wedding, we readily agreed to it,” said her father Mukkam Mohammed, a leader of the Nationalist Congress Party and LDF district convenor in Kozhikkode.
“When we approached the groom Anus Mohammad, a businessman in Dubai, he also readily agreed to it. I am a social worker and my wife is a teacher. Both my daughters have imbibed this spirit from our social work,” Mohammed added.
His elder daughter is also a doctor and currently posted at the Kozhikkode medical college hospital.
Initially Dr Shifa was reluctant to speak about her decision, which she said was “not out of the ordinary”, but after much prodding, she said “I didn’t do anything great. I did only my duty. I don’t want to talk about it much. There are many like me who postponed their personal engagements. I am only one among them,” she said over the phone after coming out of the isolation ward.
“It is true, on marriage day I was in the corona ward and some of my friends teased me saying I was dressed in my best attire (PPE). But I always enjoy serving my patients. I don’t want to talk much about it as I did my duty only,” she said, and added that as a house surgeon, she can’t talk about her patients and other details.
As the number of Sars-CoV-2 infected have gone up significantly in Kerala, the state government has recently converted Pariyaram medical college hospital in Kannur to a dedicated facility to treat Covid-19 patients. The state has reported two disease-related deaths and 234 people are in isolation wards.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> India News / by Ramesh Babu , Hindustan Times, Thiruvananthapuram / March 31st, 2020
From chips to dosas, to toys and games to razors and nail cutters … whatever the patients need, they have it.
Bengaluru, KARNATAKA :
Dr Asima Banu, Nodal Officer, Trauma and Emergency Care Centre, Victoria Hospital, Bengaluru | EXPRESS
Bengaluru :
From chips to dosas, to toys and games to razors and nail cutters … whatever the patients need, they have it. Because their wish is her command. And she gets them whatever they want with her own money. Yet, the patients don’t know who this angel is. Meet Dr Asima Banu, Nodal Officer of Trauma and Emergency Care Centre at Victoria Hospital which has now turned into a COVID-19 facility.
It is not easy for Dr Asima, who is in charge of the entire block, to meet all the requirements of the patients. Yet, she does with a smile. “It is very new and challenging for me. Not only do I have to check on the treatment but even look into what other things the patients want. As they stay until they are fully recovered, we need to keep them happy and satisfied,” she said. Dr Asima said when patients come for testing, they just come with a phone.
If they are symptomatic, they are moved to a quarantine unit until their results come. And once they test positive, they are directly sent to the designated hospital. “When they come here, naturally, they don’t bring clothes or other essentials. And once they test positive, their primary and secondary contacts are traced and are quarantined as well. So the patient has no way to get the necessary stuff for their daily use in the hospital. And they, in turn, ask us. And we have to provide them.”
“Some patients do not want to wear the hospital garments and want their own clothes. So in such cases, I call my family and ask them to send some clothes which are completely clean and some which are unused as well. I give it to the patients. Some need sandals. I check on the size and pass on the message to my family. My son looks for the size and get it for them,” she said. Five children who have tested positive for COVID are admitted here.
They demand games, cakes and chocolates. And Dr Asima has it delivered to them through Swiggy. “It does not matter if I spend for them. They just need to be happy,” she said. Dr Asima has never gone in front of the patients as it is mostly the nurses and doctors who are in the frontline. She has created a WhatsApp group with patients and they message her whatever they want. “They have never seen me, all they know is Dr Asima gives them what they want,” she said.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Iffath Fathima / Express News Service / April 26th, 2020
The Spanish Flu’s name comes from the fact that even as wartime censorship in the United States and most of Europe suppressed news of the influenza, the media in neutral Spain reported on it extensively. Photo: Wiki Commons
June 1918. A debilitating disease suddenly swept through Mumbai. Thousands fell ill, complaining of debilitating fever and cough, sometimes with intestinal problems.
For hundreds of unfortunates, their lungs filled with fluids and they died as their body was starved of oxygen. This was the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918-19, which killed an astounding 50 million worldwide. Recent estimates put the death toll in India at a staggering 12 million.
Scientists refer to Spanish influenza as the ‘mother of all influenza pandemics’, since it is the common ancestor of human and swine flu viruses. The disease is inextricably associated with World War I.
The name comes from the fact that even as wartime censorship in the United States and most of Europe suppressed news of the influenza, the media in neutral Spain reported on it extensively, including when their king Alfonso XIII fell ill with it.
Spanish influenza’s first wave reached Mumbai when soldiers returned from Europe, carrying the virus with them. An even more lethal second wave hit in September.
When the pandemic reached Mysore State, it hit it hard. The State had still not shaken off the plague. Wartime shortages had pushed up the prices of food and other essentials. To make matters worse, the monsoon failed that year.
The disease first passed through Bengaluru in late June without causing much harm. The second wave in mid-September was deadlier. Suddenly, entire families fell ill.
Higher fatality
Dispensaries, clinics and hospitals were overcrowded. Doctors, nurses and compounders were completely overwhelmed. Corpses piled up. Unlike COVID-19, Spanish influenza had a far higher fatality among the young and able-bodied than the old.
Offices emptied as people across all professions and classes fell ill, among others, the health officer in Bengaluru and the then Chief Secretary of Mysore State.
In early October, Bengaluru’s City Municipal Council, under the leadership of the President KP Puttanna Chetty, took several quick, creative and effective steps to deal with the health crisis. Temporary dispensaries were opened, some housed in municipal schools that were closed at the time.
Mobile dispensaries were set up to ensure medicines reached everyone. All dispensaries were directed to stay open for longer hours and to stock enough of the medicines required, including thymol, which was prescribed a preventative.
Since hospitals were filled beyond their capacity, temporary tents and sheds were set up to accommodate the sick. Retired medical staff and medical students were brought in to help with the workload. Health officers went around neighbourhoods to see if there were any infected people and to persuade them to move to the hospitals or the camps to prevent the disease from spreading.
Leaflets in Kannada and English were distributed, which explained the symptoms of influenza, how it spread, and how it was important to ‘separate the sick from the healthy,’ and to avoid ‘the entire family congregating in the sick room.’
People were advised to ‘tie a clean handkerchief on which a teaspoon of eucalyptus oil is sprinkled, across the nose and mouth’ when entering the sick room, to provide a certain extent of protection. They were also strongly urged to avoid crowded places.
A striking feature of the response to the influenza pandemic was the voluntary effort in providing relief. Much like today, when several people are working, often with the police and the BBMP, to ensure the poor are not forgotten during the lockdown, in 1918 too, volunteers helped ensure relief supplies reached the poor and families where there was no one left to tend to the sick.
In Bengaluru, the relief operation was coordinated by Chief Officer R Subba Rao. He divided the city into several blocks with a relief party in charge of each. Supplies included medicines, milk and kanji, a lot of which was prepared at a government facility and then distributed by car, carts and even lorries.
Municipal councillors and volunteers who worked ceaselessly included Father Briand, Ramachandra Rao Scindia, Rev D A Rees, B Usman Khan, B Chinnaswami Setty, Ghulam Dastangir, B K Garudachar, R Gopalaswami Iyer and many, many others.
Assisting them were the Social Service League, Young Men’s Christian Association, students of the Wesleyan, London Mission and National High Schools, and many others. Puttanna Chetty toured the city himself to assist the relief works and ensure they went on smoothly.
By the end of November, the disease was finally under control. More than 1,95,000 people died in Mysore State, 40,000 in Bengaluru alone. With the compounding problems of agrarian distress, rural areas were affected much worse.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Spectrum> Spectrum Top Stories / by Meera Iyer / April 08th, 2020
Jamia Hamdard Professor Mohd. Aftab Ahmad has been awarded for Drug Research in Unani Medicine.
Jamia Hamdard Professor Mohd. Aftab Ahmad recieving the award from Union Minister Rajnath Singh.
Professor Mohd. Aftab Ahmad of School of Unani Medicinal Education and Research(SUMER), Jamia Hamdard has been awarded by the Ministry of Ayush, Govt of India for his contribution in Unani Medicine at International Conference on Unani Medicine.
Brief details about Jamia Hamdard Professor Mohd. Aftab Ahmad
1. Professor Mohd. Aftab Ahmad has about 25 years of teaching and research experience.
2. He joined the Department of Ilmul Advia, erstwhile Faculty of Unani Medicine, presently School of Unani Medical Education & Research (SUMER) as a Lecturer. Since then he is imparting teaching and giving practical training to the students of BUMS, MD. (Ilmul Advia), BPharma (Unani) and DPharm (Unani).
3. He has established the Dawasazi lab at Jamia Hamdard with all necessary alterations and prepared Unani Murakkabat (Compound Unani Medicines) in a meticulous and scientific manner using good pharmacy practices, for the practical demonstration of Dawasazi to the students.
4. Dr. Ahmad used some mutatis mutandis in the formulation of Unani Pharmacopeial Murakkab Advia to enhance their efficacy, using Modern and clinical techniques.
As of now, 100 types of Murakkab Advia/pharmaceutics are being prepared in the inhouse-lab and distributed to the indoor patients of the Majeedia Hospital, Jamia Hamdard.
Speaking on the occasion, Mohd. Aftab Ahmad was quoted saying It was a great honour” to receive the award in recognition for Drug Research in Unani Medicine and to get appreciation and even more so to be awarded by the Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh.
Unani Day observed at Jamia Hamdard
International Conference on Unani Medicine was organized by the Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine on February 11 and 12, 2020 at New Delhi. Every year Unani Day is observed on February 11. The event provided a platform to discuss wide range of topics which would help in developing knowledge and understanding Unani System of Medicine and its contribution to health and well-being.
The theme of this international conference is Unani Medicine – Towards Achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG-3) of Good Health & Well-Being.
Jamia Hamdard Unani conference witnessed participants from across the globe
A galaxy of experts and luminaries from the field of health sciences across the globe shared their knowledge, experiences and innovations. There was participation from industry, academia and research organizations engaged in the development of Unani Medicine and related health sciences.
Contribution of government
The Unani Day celebration inter-alia included the conferment of annual AYUSH Awards for Unani Medicine, wherein awards conferred for excellence in different categories, viz. Best Research Paper’, Young Scientist’, Best Teacher’ and Lifetime Achievement’. An exhibition of industry and academia will also be organised.
source: http://www.indiatoday.com / India Today / Home> Education Today> News / by India Today Web Desk / New Delhi – February 12th, 2020
With help from the police, Dr Syed Moinuddin Shabbir (on bike) goes about attending to patients
Bengaluru :
With OPDs in most hospitals and neighbourhood clinics shut owing to the lockdown, a 46-year-old Bengaluru doctor has emerged a roving healer for thousands of people in Shivajinagar, Pulikeshinagar and Bharatinagar.
Astride a two wheeler converted into a mobile ambulance, Dr Syed Moinuddin Shabbir goes around tending to minor ailments and providing residents essentials like groceries and medicines.
The genial doctor visits 20 to 25 lanes every day and examines residents. He administers insulin shots to diabetics. “Most of the medicines I supply are for blood pressure and diabetes,” says the doctor, who is also vice-principal of a paramedic college at Santosh Group of Institutions. “There are diabetics with gangrene, who need a strong dose of antibiotics on a regular basis. The dressing also needs to be changed.”
Trained by B.Pac as a Civic Leader, Shabbir says he’s been doing his bit since March 25. He initially reached out to people in Shivajinagar. “I was born and brought up in Shivajinagar,” he says.
The doctor, who borrowed the scooter-turned-ambulance from the Santosh group, covers at least 125km every day. He has another two-wheeler for delivering groceries. He pays for the fuel and medicines from his pocket. The groceries he supplies are sponsored by organisations such as Rotary Bangalore Cantonment and Jain Youth Trust.
On house visits, he also spreads awareness on the symptoms of Covid-19 and the need to maintain hygiene and remain indoors. The doctor has also roped in Pulikeshinagar and Bharatinagar police stations to further his endeavor. Patients in need of help or provisions/medicines contact one of the two stations, which alert Shabbir.
So far, the doctor has helped deliver groceries that could last up to one month to 10,000 families, including migrant workers. Shabbir wears a mask to protect himself. “Initially , my family was very hesitant, but eventually they understood it’s a good cause,” he says.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Bengaluru News / by Mrinilani Bhat / TNN / April 17th, 2020
Gloves attached to a long-sleeve are affixed to the glass cabin through which the doctor can pass his hands to collect the sample.
Representational Image. (Photo | PTI)
Lucknow :
Doctors at the district hospital in UP’s Mahoba have designed their own version of an air tight cabin for collecting swab samples to test coronavirus.
Called the Sample Collection Cabin for COVID-19, the structure has been inspired by one planned by a doctor in Kanpur and also by testing facilities in South Korea.
Behind the designing of the cabin is a team comprising Chief Medical Superintendent of Mahoba district hospital Dr R P Mishra, Dr Gulsher Ahmed, Dr Narendra and Dr Yogendra.
“We modified a structure planned by a doctor in Kanpur, about which we came to know through newspapers. As we worked on it we encountered difficulties and worked on removing them. We also got suggestions from some people,” the CMS said.
The cabin has two holes through which the doctor can pass his hands for collecting the swab sample.
Gloves attached to a long-sleeve are affixed to the glass cabin through which the doctor can pass his hands to collect the sample.
“This cabin was inspired by a photograph of a testing facility in South Korea, which we saw on the Internet. As the idea came to our mind, we spoke to our CMS, explained him the entire concept, and he agreed to it,” Dr Gulsher Ahmed told PTI on Sunday.
The booth was made in two days.
“The person to be tested is outside the booth while the person from the medical team is inside the booth and wearing a complete PPE kit. If a person whose samples are being taken sneezes, then the droplets will fall on the outer walls of the testing booth. After the sample is taken, one member of our medical team sprays the entire booth with sodium hypochlorite solution. The one who is wearing PPE kit sprays alcohol on the gloves of the lab technician (taking sample),” he said.
“The second sample at the Sample Collection Cabin for COVID-19 is taken after a gap of 10 minutes. We are exercising extra caution to ensure that infection does not spread,” Dr Ahmed, who is posted as a master trainer for COVID-19 said.
So far, we have taken 124 samples, and 94 persons have tested negative for COVID-19, Dr Ahmed said.
As many as 6 districts of UP — Pilibhit, Prayagraj, Bareilly, Maharajganj, Lakhimpur-Khiri and Hathras have now been declared as COVID-19 free.
Apart from this, 125 new patients have been confirmed as positive for novel coronavirus in various districts of UP taking the total number of positive cases to 974, of which 582 are related to Tablighi Jamaat.
Total deaths in the state stand at 14 (1 each at Basti, Varanasi, Bulandshahr, Kanpur and Lucknow; 2 each in Meerut and Moradabad and 5 in Agra).
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Nation / by PTI / April 19th, 2020
When CIPLA started producing generic medicine, the US complained of patent-violation. Indira Gandhi stood by CIPLA. It is ironical therefore that the US should now dial India for supply of HCQ
Khwaja Abdul Hamied was a great fan of Mahatma Gandhi
The manner in which Muslims are being demonised in this country by a section of the media and Bhakts of the BJP, here is a story that should uplift the hearts of almost everybody else.
In the 1920s, a rich man in India put his son on board a ship from Bombay to the United Kingdom in order to acquire a law degree and become a barrister, as was fashionable among all privileged families in the country at the time. The boy, however, did not want to be a lawyer; his heart was in chemistry, a pursuit without a seeming future in those days.
But his father gave him little choice, so while he waved to his father as his ship pulled away, Khwaja Abdul Hamied was already running over other plans in his mind while standing on the deck. He jumped ship halfway through the seas to land in Germany which, in the early decades of the last century, was leading in the study of chemistry and chemicals. He acquired a degree, married a German Jew who was also a communist – two communities the Nazis hated the most. But before they could be caught by Adolf Hitler’s Gestapo, they escaped from Germany and safely reached India.
With his vast knowledge of chemicals, Khwaja Hamied set up the Chemical, Industral and Pharmaceutical Laboratories in 1935 which was shortened to CIPLA decades later after Independence.
Khwaja Hamied was a great fan of Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and got down, in true nationalist spirit, to producing cheaply priced generic drugs for the common people. These included not only medicines for malaria and tuberculosis but also other respiratory disorders, cardiovascular diseases as well as routine and mundane ailments like diabetes and arthritis.
Sometime in the 1970s, Cipla (so renamed in the 1980s) began to manufacture a drug called Propranolol, patented by a US pharmaceutical giant from Brooklyn in New York, that was used in treating blood pressure, migraines and heart ailments, among others. In a bipolar world at the time, the US was no friend of India and a real superpower. Unlike Donald Trump, it did not need to issue threats for any country in the world to comply to its diktats.
The US complained to the Indian government. But unlike Narendra Modi last week, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi did not immediately cave in. She sent for Yusuf Hamied, Khwaja’s son, himself a chemistry graduate from Cambridge, who had by then taken over the running of the company. When Mrs Gandhi asked how he could violate the patent law on drugs and get India into trouble, Yusuf told Mrs Gandhi the story of his father and why he had set up the company – to bring low priced quality drugs to the poor.
When he had handed his company to his son, Khwaja had told Yusuf just one thing – remember why this company was founded. “Unlike other pharmaceutical companies around the world, we are not here to make profits but to bring relief and healthcare to the poor who may otherwise have to die for want of quality drugs.”
That is all he was doing, Yusuf told an impressed Mrs Gandhi who could empathise with the concern for the poor. And she turned down the US’s command to India to stop producing the drug, knowing it could have consequences. Americans hated her for this and other acts of defiance, but she always had the interests of her own fellow citizens on top priority.
On Yusuf’s suggestion she also had the patent law on drugs changed to not include the drug per se, only the process of manufacture as inviolable, so that Cipla could go ahead and produce as many low-priced generic drugs for the poor as possible. Since then Cipla has also produced a low-cost drug to treat HIV and expanded operations into several developing countries, including African nations, where most HIV and poor patients existed at one time.
This then is the company which produces hydroxychloroquine used in the treatment of malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis which now has been exported in such large numbers to the United States under threat by a weaker Trump administration, depriving poor Indians of the same.
Even before Trump had bullied India into exporting the drug, Dr Hamiduddin Pardawala, the infectious diseases specilast at the Saifee Hospital in Bombay, had told some of us to note carefully that countries where malaria (and perhaps tuberculosis) was common were suffering less from Coronavirus than those where malaria was almost non-existent.
So where is malaria almost non-existent? The US, UK, Israel, France, Germany, Spain, Canada etc. In other words, countries which have suffered the maximum infestations. When I think of Germany, I wonder where these nations, who are profusely thanking India now for supplying HCQ to them, would have been today if Khwaja Hamied and his wife had been caught by the Gestapo and sent off to the concentration camps.
That goes even more forcefully for the bigots of this country, who have so demonised the Muslims and communalisedthe disease. There is something like karma in this world, even if not you but your future generations have to pay for it. Many of them might have got malaria in the past and been prescribed with HCQ that would have helped them develop the anti-bodies to resist COVID-19.
Many possible afflictions among them will need treating with this drug. Unknowingly, they may have taken many other generic drugs manufactured by this “Muslim’ company and owe the Hamieds a debt of gratitude for keeping their blood pressure under control and diabetes counts in check.
I would like to call this poetic justice without gloating over the fact. No other company in India, and certainly not the world, has done as much to bring affordable health care to poor Indians as has Cipla – and it has not been stingy about its research, often providing pharmaceutical ingredients and processes to other drug companies in the country to manufacture their own.
When India was partitioned Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who was also a Bombay resident and part of the same social circles as the Hamieds, offered Khwaja an honourable move to Pakistan. The Hamieds were sure where their sympathies lay – with Gandhiji – and chose to stay back in India.
There are Muslims and then there are Muslims like the Tablighee Jamaatis of this particular Nizamuddin meet (not others who cancelled their own meets across the country in wake of the pandemic; even the Tablighi Jamaat was denied permission to hold a similar congregation in Mumbai) just like there are Hindus and Hindus, who kill other Hindus because they do not agree with bigotry.
It is not right to target all Hindus for the acts of a few crazy cult members among them. Similarly, a handful of Tablighi Jamaatis do not a whole community make.
We must stop demonising all for the acts of a few.
source: http://www.nationalheraldindia.com / National Herald / Home> India / by Sujata Anandan / April 12th, 2020
