On life and death in India. Now "Congo Fever" :(

The Economist has one of the best opening lines ever in some of the recent journalism stories I have read recently:

YOU can be killed by an exotic variety of diseases in India.

Isn't that the case!

About four or five years ago, I was shocked when I first read about a Dengue Fever epidemic in India, and then even more shocked when I met one who was down with that fever.  And then the last time when I was there, I find out that an aunt had Chikungunya and took months to recover.  A couple of days before I left the country I called my friend's parents to say hi to them, and his mother said that she still has pain--months after a Chikungunya infection.  The good thing is that these women (all women? really?) recovered well enough.

Up until all these, I thought Dengue and Chikungunya were infections that we had to watch out for while in Africa.  I suppose there is phenomenal globalization in infectious diseases too. 

Anyway, what is the latest exotic killer in India, you ask? "Congo Fever:"

A tick-borne virus, endemic to parts of Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere, it passes easily from livestock to man, and then between humans. Horrible symptoms include fever, internal bleeding and liver failure. Some 30% of infected humans die, usually within a couple of weeks.
The authorities in Gujarat, western India, were therefore alarmed when in January a medical intern died of the disease, formally known as Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever. Earlier in the month it killed three others: a patient, plus a doctor and nurse who had cared for her. These appear to be the first recorded deaths in India from the illness. On February 5th doctors reported two more cases in Gujarat. The fever’s arrival is a mystery.

It is crazy!

It is unfortunate that rural development and health do not attract enough attention in India.  Politicians and governments are far more interested in urban-oriented investments with whatever money is left after they have swindled. 

Indian officials acknowledge that the country needs to increase investment in irrigation, encourage competition in wholesale and retail markets, and provide targeted food subsidies to the poor. And they also have to provide more education and jobs to villagers, so fewer people are forced to live off the land.
Experts say India needs to make changes like some of the ones China made, beginning in the late 1970s, when it started investing heavily in agriculture and eased regulations on farming.
As recently as 1977, Chinese and Indian farmers harvested roughly the same amount of wheat for each acre that they planted. But by 2009, United Nations data shows that wheat yields were 1.7 times higher in China than in India.
Kaushik Basu, a Cornell University professor who is also the chief economic adviser to India’s finance minister, says he now sees more willingness by Indian officials to reform agriculture policies.
But outside experts like Mr. Gulati are skeptical that real change will come from the government. The ruling coalition has been hobbled by corruption scandals, and an energized opposition last year effectively blocked proceedings in Parliament.

The country is rapidly devolving into a bizarre version of "democratic oligarchy" ... the phenomenal amounts being spent on cricket is evidence enough.

I hope a few more people will follow the example that Wipro's Azim Premji is setting with his philanthropy: