INDIA— In India, authorities issued new H1N1 guidelines following its first confirmed death from the virus—a 14 year old child from Pune, Maharashtra. The guidelines permit officials to use the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 to forcibly quarantine individuals suspected of being H1N1+.
The Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 is of historical and political significant in Pune, where corrupt officials used it a century ago to evacuate Pune through brutal police action. It is somewhat likely reissuance of the Act will result in negative public opinion. In Maharashtra, where about one-fifth of India's total reported cases of H1N1 have originated, local officials will begin to check school children for signs of the virus.
Thus far, neither the reported H1N1 cases nor the reissuance of the Epidemic Diseases Act has negatively affected the World Bank’s private sector International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) plan to complete a multi-million dollar investment in Volkswagen India’s plant in Pune.
SOURCES:
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-08-04-voa11.cfm
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/ifc-to-spend-135-million-in-vw-pune-plant/366233/
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