The ‘About’ tab of The Lancet magazine declares on its website: “The Lancet is an independent, international weekly general medical journal founded in 1823 by Thomas Wakley. Since its first issue (October 5, 1823), the journal has strived to make science widely available so that medicine can serve, and transform society, and positively impact the lives of people.”
Unknown to the honourable and late Mr Wakley, however, The Lancet has turned a political leaf and is pursuing a geopolitical agenda beyond its scope. And to make matters more complex and egregious, it has ceased to be a fair platform, denying space to comments that point out its errors of judgment, or to present a counter-argument — an established dialectical method accepted worldwide.
In an editorial published on May 8, titled India’s COVID-19 emergency, the ‘general medical journal’ launched a blistering attack on India’s political and administrative handling of the crisis, declaring: ‘The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that India will see a staggering 1 million deaths by August 1. If that outcome were to happen, Modi’s Government would be responsible for presiding over a self-inflicted national catastrophe.’ It also criticised Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and top government officials stating that they “prematurely declared victory over the pandemic…leading to complacency and insufficient preparation”.
While the readers of this article will be the best judge of its facetiousness, it is important to point out that The Lancet editors chose to single out the impact of the pandemic on India, ignoring the fact that by May 28, the following figures told the true story of COVID-19 devastation:
Country Number of deaths per million population
1. Brazil 2,135
2. Italy 2,083
3. UK 1,873
4. USA 1,826
5. Spain 1,708
6. France 1,669
7. Germany 1,056
8. India. 229
Even in terms of absolute numbers, the total number of COVID-19 casualties in India on May 28 stood at 3.19 lakh compared to 4.56 lakh in Brazil and 6.07 lakh in the US. (source: worlometers.info/coronavirus)
The Lancet editorial not only turned a blind eye to the true global picture, the journal also refused to publish a fact-based rebuttal to its editorial by two Pune-based scientists, Dr Ravindra Ghooi and Dr Bhushan Patwardhan.
Dr Ghooi and Dr Patwardhan have termed the refusal by The Lancet to publish their rebuttal as an irresponsible, unprofessional and unscientific act.
In their counter-argument, the two scientists have stated: “India’s Covid 19 emergency— is a politically motivated editorial, quite similar to the one ‘Fear and uncertainty around Kashmir’s future’. Both defined the lows in editorials, made irrelevant accusations on the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi or interfering with an internal matter of a sovereign country”.
However, the journal rejected the rejoinder mentioning, “Having discussed your Letter with the Editor-in-Chief, and weighing it up against other submissions we have under consideration, I am sorry to say that we are unable to accept it for publication”.
“The article published in the The Lancet was not only an an assault on PM Narendra Modi; it is, in fact, an assault on our nation. It’s a politically motivated one. Did the writer of the editorial piece visit India to check what was happening on ground? It was an irresponsible piece, which wasn’t expected from a scientific journal of repute like The Lancet,” Dr Patwardhan, National Research Professor, AYUSH, told SCIENCE INDIA.
“Moreover they didn’t cite any valid reason of rejecting our letter. In any scientific journal, the reason of rejection needs to be given, which The Lancet didn’t. Science is sacrosanct and its facts should be considered without doubts,” added Dr Patwardhan, the former vice chairman, University Grants Commission.
A strong rebuttal from India’s scientific and medical communities was expected, after The Lancet published the said article, which in fact didn’t happen. Rather, The Lancet piece was glorified by a section of Indian media, as if it was an international certificate or endorsement against the Indian government.
It’s not for the first time that the medical journal has criticised India. On August 17, 2019, it had published an editorial on Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370— ‘Fear and uncertainty around Kashmir’s future’, which had created much uproar in India’s political circle. Experts from all across the spectrum had questioned on how can a hardcore medical journal talk on geopolitics, which was not its domain.
Here the question arises in minds of millions: Are such articles in
The Lancet meant to malign the image of India and its government?
“What a medical journal has to do with our Kashmir issue? Such editorial pieces hurt sentiments of millions of Indians and it should have been withdrawn. In the case of the editorial related to our pandemic management against which we wrote to The Lancet, the journal instead of apologising for its irresponsible, unprofessional and unscientific piece, refused to carry our rebuttal. This editorial must be withdrawn,” Clinical Research Scientist, Dr Ravindra Ghooi told SCIENCE INDIA.
The copy of the rebuttal sent to The Lancet and being accessed by SCIENCE INDIA mentions, “The content of the current editorial is seriously flawed, misleading and mischievous.”
*The writer is Editor, Science India
