Mission Sanjivini
India is conducting the world’s biggest and fastest Covid-19 vaccination programme. Over 300 million people will be vaccinated by August. While 1.3 billion are looking to be vaccinated, India has also launched its vaccine outreach through an initiative called ‘Vaccine Maitri’ (Vaccine Friendship). The sheer size, scale and swiftness of the programme has been setting a terrific example of India’s selflessness and humane approach and has been appreciated all over the world. Guided by the philosophy of “Bahujana sukhaya bahujana hitaya” (For the happiness of the many, for the welfare of the many) and fuelled by a great zeal of innovation, in partnership and collaborations, once again India is emerging as a leading country in the fight against Covid-19. After successful trials and approvals from regulatory authorities, India’s mission ‘Sanjivini’ has expanded omnidirectionally. Despite huge domestic necessity, India has extended valuable support to friends and partners. In this challenging time when rich and powerful nations are hoarding the vaccine, India has reached out to its neighbours and the world at large with the vaccine. India’s indispensable vaccine outreach is incredible in many ways. It is a testament of India’s humane approach backed by state of art technological innovation and professionalism of skilled person that has made it the pharma of the world.
The Great Upheaval
The pandemic disrupted and brought the global economy nearly to halt. According to a World Bank report, global GDP will see a 5.2 per cent contraction in 2020 resulting in the largest per capita income contracting globally since 1870. Despite the damages of the pandemic world over the worst affected are the developing and poor countries. The resulting global economic crisis has not only halted but negated the progress in the reduction of global poverty and derailed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) goal of eradicating extreme poverty by 2030. The global economic crisis has resulted in demand being curtailed, supply chain disrupted, industries downsizing, investments being delayed all these resulting in millions losing their jobs. The worst affected are the people in developing countries who not only lost their jobs but without any social security net are at the vagaries of poverty resulting in malnutrition, susceptibility to disease and low self-esteem.
Scramble for Vaccine
The world is facing an unprecedented crisis due to the pandemic which has been aggravated by the scramble and cornering of the vaccine by the rich and the developed countries. As hope rose around the world with coronavirus vaccines advance through clinical trials disappeared in the face of insatiable avarice of wealthy and developed countries who have already cornered over 51 per cent of the vaccines despite accounting for just 13 per cent of the world’s population, according to some estimates. This reckless and predatory action by developed countries has created a deep chasm between them and the developing countries. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general rightly observed, “the world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure – and the price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the world’s poorest countries”. While the rich countries are reserving doses that far outnumber their populations, majority of the people in developing and underdeveloped countries will not be vaccinated this year due to the unjustifiably high prices and artificially restricting production barrier created by western pharmaceutical corporations.
India’s humanitarian diplomacy
It is not easy to fight a capricious pandemic leaving behind a trail of death and destruction in a country of 1.3 billion people. This herculean task is being performed by the under the astute leadership of PM Modi and the remarkable resilience shown by the Indian people has overcome the initial shock and unimaginable miseries of the pandemic. Cooperation is one of the foundations of India’s civilizational values. Under its neighbourhood policy India gifted vaccine to Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. India’s ‘Vaccine Maitri’ is not limited to the neighbourhood but covers all corners of the world. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro compared India role in the present crisis as that of Lord Hanuman of epic Ramayana who got ‘Sanjeevni booti’, a magical life-saving herb, to Lanka to save Lord Ram’s brother Lakshman, who was wounded in a war. India is partnering with countries across the world. When the world is seeing mercantilist profiteering and dominance by some countries, Indian foreign policy has been driven by its civilizational ethos for the development and prosperity of the world, all stakeholders have to work together based on equity, sharing and solidarity. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad states, “Sarvepi sukhinah santu, Sarvesantu niramaya, Sarve bhandrani pashyantu, Ma kaschit dukhamapnuyat”(May all be happy; May all be free from fear; May all see only good; May no one be unhappy). The close synergy between government and the private sector in the fight against COVID-19 through the amalgamation of technology and innovation is creating new opportunities. This cooperation resulting in the world’s largest COVID-19 vaccination drive but also sharing the vaccine with the rest of the world. India’s mission Sanjivini illustrates prime minister Narendra Modi’s vision of security and growth for all and Modi’s mantra of “sabka sath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas” (together with all, development for all, the trust of all). A new India is committed to humanity and vaccine maitri pave the way for a bright future for all of us. Indeed, this could be a ‘Y2K moment’ for Indian pharma industry.
(Dr. Rajeev Ranjan Chaturvedy is an Adjunct Senior Associate Fellow, Asian Confluence; Kingshuk Saha is a Bangalore based researcher.)
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