Why&Where We Failed to Control Swine Flu?

In an overpopulated, economically challenged country like India any infectious disease spreads fast. The swine flu virus demonstrates requisite characteristics of a pandemic strain-spread by droplet infection, has virulence and humans are immunologically naive to it and it shows possible mechanisms for antigenic shift and reassortment. In present era infectious diseases are becoming more complicated by global challenges like climate change, global warming, air pollution, increasing population and urbanization, and flawed land use. Vacant posts of health workers, poor surveillance about the seasonal diseases, poor Information Education and Communication (IEC), inadequate diagnostic facilities and low acceptance for vaccination further worsened our situation. We need strengthening surveillance, rapid response to occasion by revamping health infrastructure, empowered by qualified workforce with extension of diagnostic facilities and IEC activities and involve particularly mass media and community. Besides this we need to involve private sector, emphasize rational use of the antiviral agent and need vaccination policy on influenza. Last but not the least there must be sustainable international collaboration for prevention and control of emerging infectious disease like swine flu and measures to mitigate climate change by eco friendly policies as climate change may have role in emerging infectious diseases.