After the floods

Abstract

"Starting on the afternoon of July 26, 2005, Mumbai was hit by the highest rainfall ever experienced anywhere in the country. Hundreds of people lost their lives; hundreds of thousands lost their homes, property and livelihoods. Though the municipal and state governments had apparently been apprised of the crisis by 2 pm (1, 2), the authorities did nothing to warn the commuting public, minimise the risk of travelling, and provide shelter and food to stranded women, men and children (3). If this was not bad enough, the public health system‘s response to the aftermath of the deluge highlighted well-known flaws in the health services. It also drew attention to some important ethical concerns about health systems – when dealing with a crisis or otherwise. These include the ethical responsibility to provide preventive and curative health care, to provide essential, truthful and useful information to the public, and not to suppress information that reflects poorly on the system