According the state health department in Karnataka, over 400 cases of swine flu have been confirmed. Meanwhile the government, which plays a crucial role in addressing expected fears and concerns among people, often does not respond adequately or soon enough. Hence this leads to several myths and misconceptions, which only further aggravate the crisis.
As per report private players and quacks use these opportunities to make a quick buck and hence it is therefore important that people have access to some basic information. Moreover there are guidelines for preventing the spread of disease. Accordingly Swine flu is contagious about one day before symptoms develop to about five to seven days after symptoms develop. Meanwhile people who develop the signs and symptoms can wear a face mask so that every time they cough they are not releasing the virus into the air and putting others at risk.
Furthermore current insurance based health schemes in India are flawed because they focus more on a curative, procedure based model, but hardly any thought has been spared for prevention of disease at a primary level, controlling disease when it does occur and health promotion among people. Also health promotion is essentially about ensuring that people have adequate resources to develop their immunity and avoid many diseases in the first place.
