Renew focus on communicable diseases, not Covid-19 pandemic: Experts

Public health expert Anish T S says during the pandemic, reported cases of tuberculosis and typhoid were fewer

Public health experts say that instead of devoting resources to Covid-19, India must focus its energies on other communicable diseases like malaria, dengue, tuberculosis, and typhoid, which are likely to see a sharp spike.

Public health expert Anish T S, associate professor of community medicine at Government Medical College, Manjeri in Kerala, says during the pandemic, reported cases of tuberculosis and typhoid were fewer. One, people stayed indoors and masked up. Two, the health system did not pick up all cases as it groaned under the weight of Covid.

“But there is an immunity backlog. Since a certain section of the population