Thought of the Day - June 23 2021 - India Does The Right Thing

The number of cases in India continues to drop. Down from the peak of 400,000 new cases a day, back in early May, to below one lakh today. While it is certain that cases are still undercounted, it is the trend that is important. The reduction has been nothing short of dramatic.

Moreover, other than the "corrections" done in early June, deaths are following suit.

So why have cases and deaths dropped so quickly?

• Could it be vaccinations? Nope, only 3% of the people in India are vaccinated;

• Could India have reached herd immunity? Nope, there would need to be twenty-five times the number of cases to get close to herd immunity;

• Is there a new miracle cure being used? Nope, there are no reports that India has developed new therapeutics or vaccines;

• Is it people practicing social distancing? In part this is the case but again the change is too dramatic for this alone.

So what did happen? Well, as talked about at the beginning of May India turned to the real hope ( Thought of the Day - May 10 2021 - Hope for the World ). They employed the existing low-cost therapeutic Ivermectin. And it worked! The areas in India that used Ivermectin: Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Goa saw cases drop 98%, 97%, 94%, and 86%, respectively. In contrast, Tamil Nadu did not employ Ivermectin and cases skyrocketed and rose to the highest in India. Tamil Nadu deaths increased ten-fold.

It worked so well that the Indian Bar Association (IBA) is now suing the WHO Chief Scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, accusing her, in a 71-point brief, of causing the deaths of Indian citizens by misleading them about Ivermectin.

For example, Point 56: “That your misleading tweet on May 10, 2021, against the use of Ivermectin had the effect of the State of Tamil Nadu withdrawing Ivermectin from the protocol on May 11, 2021, just a day after the Tamil Nadu government had indicated the same for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.” Please note, the guilty tweet has now been quickly removed.

“The world is gradually waking up to your absurd, arbitrary and fallacious approach in presenting concocted facts as ‘scientific approach'. Even though earlier studies were repressed, the world can now see the effectiveness of Ivermectin against India’s deadly second surge as the locations that adopted it saw their outbreaks quickly diminish in stark contrast to those states that did not."

As most healthcare professionals and politicians have turned a blind eye, United States courts have become the life-saving force ensuring a patient’s right to receive Ivermectin. India has also now turned to the courts. Criminal prosecution of public health officials will send a powerful signal that disinformation campaigns resulting in death carry consequences. Perhaps this real-world half-billion people case study will ultimately break the disinformation and censorship concerning existing anti-virals that can be used to save lives ( Thought of the Day - May 28 2021 - Disinformation ).

Maybe, just maybe, Canada will now add effective low-cost readily-available therapeutics to the list of treatments for COVID-19. Maybe, just maybe, BC will remove the complicit warning "Ivermectin is not recommended outside of approved clinical trials" from its treatment list for health professionals. Just maybe.

Cheers

Cliff