People wearing masks in Pune.
Sharell Cook
Swine flu has reached Pune and Mumbai, claiming around 20 lives -- which the media has obsessively reported on. People are panicking. Schools, cinemas, and malls have been closed. Most Krishna Janmashtami festival celebrations were canceled in Mumbai yesterday.
Is the situation as bad as what's portrayed in the media though? I don't think so. I feel that the media has contributed a lot to the hysteria. This became very evident while I was taking part in the 2009 Mumbai Xpress Rickshaw Challenge this week.
The participants of the Rickshaw Challenge passed through Pune. One of them was interviewed by media, who told him exactly what they wanted him to say. And what was that? He was instructed to say he was very scared of swine flu, and that no foreigners wanted to visit Pune and Mumbai because of it.
Before we came to Pune, we were given masks to wear. However, they were disposable, loose fitting paper medical masks and unlikely to prevent the transmission of the virus. Many people could be seen wearing these masks, as well as cloth scarves over their faces, in the streets of Pune.
Instead of devoting its considerable power to educating everyone about swine flu and its treatment, the media is shamefully causing fear amongst people. Flu is flu! What the media has failed to highlight is that the majority of people who have died from swine flu have been children with low immunity and older people with other health problems. Furthermore, treatment for swine flu is readily available in India. There are many people who have had the virus in India and completely recovered from it.
Does anyone else have views or experience about swine flu in India to share?
More About Swine Flu:
Hello Sharell
“”"”He was instructed to say he was very scared of swine flu, and that no foreigners wanted to visit Pune and Mumbai because of it. “”"”
Was he “instructed” by the media guys to say something bad abt swine flu condition??? i mean INSTRUCTIONS were given by the media people ???……oh my god thats Shocking yaar.
This is a very informative article .
Thanks for this information. i was already taking these media reports with a pinch of salt. Now i will take them with a HANDFULL OF SALT.
Anyways, Happy Independence Day……Cheers
Yes, the interviewer told him “we want you to say that you’re scared of swine flu, and that foreigners don’t want to visit Pune and Mumbai because of the swine flu”. It’s shocking and appalling, and makes me so upset. So many people are terrified of this virus now, and it shouldn’t be that way at all!
Happy Independence Day to you too IP.
Shocking to hear abt the media!..very informative article and I am avoding to go to Pune due to the hysteria created!..we had a site work going on there and to find labour in Mumbai willing to work in Pune was a challenge.
Hi Sharell,
what a terrible story about the media hyping the swine flu badly!
In Holland everybody hypes it up too, and people are taking precautions (on a small scale though), but it is exactly what you say: it’s just another flu and the flu is the flu. Here, one youngster died, but he had a fatal illness already, so very low, even no immunity. He would have probably died of ordinary flu as well.. Still, it was all over the news… Yesterday, I talked to a good friend who is a doctor and he even ‘advices’ to get it asap, because then you’ll get antobodies, before the swine flu mutates in a bad way…
Of course, I understand that the health conditions of lots of people in India are different from those in Europe. But if there’s treatment available, the media should focus on that!!
May be you can make a contribution with this blog… I really hope so!
cheers
Cuny