In this series of interviews Covid Response Watch brings you the voices of doctors, health workers, social activists and others, working ats the grassroots, speaking about the multiple impacts of the Covid pandemic on the lives of ordinary Indian citizens.
Some aspects of the Covid disaster are new and unprecedented but many of them are also a continuation of the crisis that existed well before the pandemic hit Indian shores. And the crisis is not just on the medical front but perhaps even more so on the social, economic, political and even cultural fronts.
Here we talk to Dr Anurag Bhargava who is Professor, Dept of General Medicine at Yenepoya Medical College, Mangalore as also the Head of the College’s Center for Nutrition Studies. Dr Bhargava is also an Executive Committee member of the Jan Swasthya Sahyog, Ganiyari, Chattisgarh.
Dr Bhargava has worked extensively on the interface between health and its socio-economic determinants, in particular the role of nutrition. His research as well as clinical work has established clearly the link between undernutrition and pulmonary tuberculosis in the Indian population.
Here Dr Bhargava talks about the experience of dealing with the Covid pandemic in India and the lessons that need to be learned from it.
