Health-Blind Spot

Blind Spot THE inevitable consequences of pursuing skewed priorities in health are increasingly becoming obvious. The much publicised 'breakthroughs' achieved by the Indian medical community the successful use of new medical procedures and the introduction of sophisticated new diagnostic and curative techniques have all served to draw attention away from the deteriorating health Status of the mass of the population. In the last few months there have been sporadic reports of epidemic outbreaks of kala azar, polio and Japanese encephalitis; and guinea worm, malaria, leprosy, tuberculosis and diarrhoeal diseases continue to be major causes of mortality and morbidity.