Cannes:
The H1N1 flu hasn't surfaced in India so far. But 18 suspected cases have been reported and over 8,353 passengers from affected areas have entered India.
So far, the government has said that it is ready. But on the ground is India's health infrastructure prepared?
As a reality check, four days after the first suspected cases in India, hospitals are still being identified in 17 cities. Also, anti-viral stocks will take another four days to arrive and there are only, which are testing samples.
The only visible step taken so far is screening at 21 airports. However, land checkpoints are still not watching out for patients with flu symptoms. The WHO has said that it is already too late to stop the first wave; now the focus must be on treatment.
Each state is identifying one or more hospital in each city with an airport," said Vineet Chawdhry, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
After the bird flu outbreak the government put in place a pandemic preparedness plan, but it is still taking far too long to get off the ground.
If the government wants to check the swine flu incident, it needs to strengthen public health infrastructure to deal with the rising no of cases.