#COVID-19: Are Media channels using 'experts' to create fear?

News Bharati    22-Mar-2020 13:01:19 PM
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New Delhi, Mar 22: When the entire country is busy fighting with coronavirus outbreak responding to the appeal of #JanataCurfew by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, some media channels are busy spreading fake news and creating fear among the citizens.

Prominent media channels like India Today, BBC World to name a few, are at this fear-mongering with the help of some so-called ‘self-styled’ experts.

These channels are circulating an interview of one “Epidemiologist” Dr Ramanan Lakshminarayanan who predicted that India will have 200 million coronavirus cases!

So, who is this Dr. Ramanan Lakshminarayanan?

He is Director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy (CDDEP) and gave an interview to the BBC correspondent in India stating that India must prepare for ‘tsunami of coronavirus cases’.

According to Dr. Vijay Chauthaiwale, In charge of Foreign Affairs, Bharatiya Janata Party, and former visiting fellow at the National Institute of Health (NIH), Dr. Lakshminarayan is not an Epidemiologist. He is an economist who worked with the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) for four years. During his association with the PHFI, he started two private companies without the permission of the PHFI. One of these two companies was CDDEP. The PHFI did not renew his contract in 2016, Dr. Chauthaiwale wrote in his FB post.

PHFI sued him for stealing its intellectual property. PHFI won the case against him and got back its rights. The court even awarded legal costs to PHFI.

In addition to his role in CDDEP, he started a company called Health Cube, which works in the area of diagnostics. His second venture is "Public Health Technologies Trust". He has an ongoing legal dispute with Mr. Arun Nanda of Mahindra & Mahindra regarding PHTT.

In short, this fear-mongering by Dr. Lakshminarayan needs rigorous questioning, especially with reference to his credentials, his track record, and his vested interests. This is a clear case of conflict of interests, Dr. Chauthaiwale demanded.

The government and the people are cautious and taking strict measures to arrest the spread of coronavirus in every possible way. In this hour of crisis, the media channels should conduct themselves in the most responsible manner and not indulge in such fear-mongering at the behest of ‘some experts’ like Dr. Lakshminarayanan.