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Journalism of Courage
A day after the government rejected the Lancet study which claimed presence of superbug in water samples in the capital,it formed a committee to look into the findings of the study.
A scientific committee comprising experts and health officials was formed by the Union Health Ministry to examine the findings so that appropriate action can be taken. In their study British researchers had found the NDM-1 superbug in two out of the 50 tap-water samples and 51 out of the 171 samples of water from puddles in Delhi.
The committee has been formed to go into the details, said Dr R K Srivastava,director general of Health Services.
The Health Ministry on Thursday had rejected the study,saying it had been conducted with motivated intentions. Asserting that it was illegal in the first place to remove water samples from the country,the Ministry questioned the authenticity as the samples were lifted by a TV journalist.
As per the material transfer agreement,the samples cannot be transferred without taking permission from the government, added Dr Srivastava.
According to the ministry officials,there has been a complete conflict of interest too,as indicated in the report. The researchers had received conference support from numerous pharmaceutical companies,and one of them also holds shares in pharmaceutical companies. They received payment for lectures,travel and accommodation from pharmaceutical companies. What kind of declaration was this? questioned a Health Ministry official.
We know that these bugs are dangerous but they are everywhere. We straightaway reject the findings, said Dr V M Katoch,DG,Indian Council of Medical Research.
The study found the NDM-1 superbug in 11 different types of bacteria,including those that cause dysentery and cholera. .
