Dr. Randeep Guleria, director of the Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), told the Hindustan Times on Thursday that India’s trip amid the Covid-19 pandemic has been “innovative and interesting.” Describing India as a “resilient nation,” Guleria said the country has the kind of will to face another pandemic.
Dr. Guleria, however, called for more investment in the public sector and the need to learn from this pandemic so that “the same mistakes are not repeated” in the future.
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“We started panicking over enough PPE and labs, now we have the ability to export PPE. We are doing 1.5 million tests a day and for our country that is a great achievement, “he said.
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Dr Guleria said there has been a lot of learning in recent months and it has shown that India has the willpower to overcome another such pandemic.
“But there has to be more investment in the public sector and the participation of health professionals … whenever we have another pandemic we must learn from this and not repeat the same mistakes,” he added.
Dr. Guleria spoke at the opening session of this year’s Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, which was also attended by Dr. Ashish K Jha, dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University. Experts spoke about the devastating pandemic, gathered their learnings, and discussed the challenges ahead.
Experts shared their excitement about the Covid-19 vaccine breakthrough recently reported by pharmaceutical giants Moderna and Pfizer.
“We must not underestimate the challenges, but we must still celebrate scientific advancement and this good news,” Jha told Hindustan Times editor-in-chief Sukumar Ranganathan.
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