Our tier 2-3 cities not strong enough in public health services: K S Reddy

Even efficient urban and variable-quality rural health services will be unable to tackle coronavirus in case of a community epidemic, which will gain ground and possibly acquire greater virulence

K Srinath Reddy is president of not-for-profit Public Health Foundation of India and former Head of Department of Cardiology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). He is also an Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at Harvard (2014-2023). Speaking with Aditi Phadnis, he shares his views on the health outlay in the 2020-21 Budget and the novel coronavirus threat to India

The novel coronavirus has again raised questions about India’s capacity to handle public health crises. So far, the situation is under check, but do you think capacities are adequate?

All countries are nervous about the novel coronavirus assuming pandemic proportions and