Q- What are the lessons that India can learn to counter COVID 19 outbreak , from response of East asian nations affected by SARS earlier. Examine.

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East Asian nations have shaped their response to Covid-19 with lessons from 2003 SARS outbreak. As COVID-19 pandemic situation is getting worsened in India , its imperative that the lessons from east Asian nations should be adapted.

Lessons India can learn from East Asian nations:

• Most East Asian nations use Two-pronged approach on health sector i.e., strengthening its government health facilities and expanding health coverage through social health insurance, much like Ayushman Bharat.

• These nation invest heavily in health sector. According to the data of World Bank, China spending 5% of GDP , Vietnam spending 6% of GDP, Japan ~10% of GDP.

• Making social security universal for all and Incentives for health startups. It is evident that both is adapted by China very well.

• Countries like Vietnam increased surveillance system and laboratory facilities. India should also do this keeping the population size.

• Almost all east Asian nations made Behavioral changes like frequent hand washing, use of face marks, responsible use of public facilities etc

• South Korea & Japan use the technologies to reduce Human contact such as Video conferencing instead of direct meeting.

• Countries like Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam leveraged the potential of Borrowing from multinational institutions for health sector.

Lives, social practices, working arrangements and the health sector will surely irreversibly change with the Covid-19 crisis in our country as well. In order to lead the war against COVID 19 pandemic, India  must learn from such adaptations

made by east asian nations. 

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Additional Points: 

SARS, and subsequently H1N1, also prompted East Asian countries to deepen their regional cooperation on pandemic preparedness and response. 

Coordinated by the Association of South-East Asian Nations and other international development agencies, systems and agreements were put in place to identify emerging health emergencies and share information.

Faced with temporary travel restrictions during the epidemic, the Asian Development Bank experimented with undertaking loan negotiations through videoconferencing. 

This turned out to be as efficient as face-to-face meetings and has now become the norm.