2008 was a traumatic year. 2009 will bring neither ease nor comfort. But as the New Year kicks off amid a full-blown global financial crisis, it also marks a turning point which can be leveraged to force a choice between inertia and innovation. This could be our defining moment for course correction, not only in the financial sphere but also in a critical area like health. Of particular concern are infectious diseases which, like financial contagion and terrorism, require a coordinated response in today’s globalised world. Just as in the case of the financial crisis, which started in the developed world and then started pummeling other areas, an outbreak of a contagious disease today is almost guaranteed to quickly spread far and wide, as we have seen in the case of bird flu. There are two possible responses to the current scenario: we could either throw up our hands in despair or we could junk the old ways of doing things and look at the issues with a fresh eye.
Health too vital to be left only to health specialists
by Patralekha Chatterjee, Deccanchronicle, 14 January, 2009