The second is the failure of India’s public health system, which has allowed “encephalitis” to become an annual outbreak in the region. For long, annual “encephalitis” outbreaks in the adjoining districts of Gorakhpur and Kushinagar were thought to be rooted in Japanese Encephalitis (JE). Thus, they are not appreciated enough, even though they save the public health system a lot of money. It is a blot on India’s public health system that handheld “ambu-bags” are a characteristic feature of government hospital emergencies — not just in “interior” districts like Gorakhpur, but also in Delhi and Mumbai. And as Gorakhpur has shown, it is always the poorest who face the brunt of poor health policies, management and financing.

Source: Indian Express August 17, 2017 18:33 UTC