Sorry Indian MPs, claims like this are not made lightly by scientists or one of the most highly respected medical journals in the world.  And, if for some strange reason the Lancet decided it was going to publish study findings based on maliciously distorted information just so that the UK could somehow claim political superiority over all of India, then this is something that should be challenged through study and not through parliament.

The most important thing in a world 7 billion strong is too be vigilant against the threat of global pandemic.  Instead of worrying about their reputation and the medical tourism industry, Indian physicians, public health experts, and government leaders should focus on double checking the findings of the study.

India has a lot to lose from a marred medical tourism reputation, having heavily invested both government and private dollars into the development of its medical tourism industry.  The worst thing that could happen is for profit and pride to be put ahead of health.   We’ve had this happen once already this decade in China, and that culminated in the frightening summer of SARS. And, if the reporting of Swine Flu numbers is anything to go on, then Indian hospitals and governments aren’t exactly on top of the ball when it comes to keeping other countries abreast of their health problems.

India rejects UK scientists’ ‘superbug’ claim

By Geeta Pandey BBC News, Delhi

India has rejected a claim by British scientists that a new superbug, resistant to even the most powerful antibiotics, has entered UK from India.

The health ministry said it was unfair to link the bug to India and officials described it as “malicious propaganda”.

Several Indian MPs raised the issue in parliament, calling it a conspiracy.

Scientists say patients who went to India and Pakistan for treatments such as cosmetic surgery have come back with bacteria that make NDM-1 enzyme.

Health experts say NDM-1 can exist inside different bacteria, like E.coli, and it makes them resistant to most antibiotics.

About 50 cases have been identified in the UK so far, but scientists said it could spread globally, medical publication Lancet Infectious Diseases said.

The Indian health ministry has described the report as “sensational”.

An official told the BBC it was “unfair” to link the bug to India and create a scare.

The “plasmid”, associated with drug resistance to antibiotics, is present “in the environment, may be in the intestines of humans and animals universally”, the health ministry said in a press release.

‘Wrong propaganda’

Officials said a person could become infected with the drug-resistant bacteria anywhere in the world and it was “preventable by sound infection-prevention strategies which are followed in any good hospital”.

“We strongly refute the naming of this enzyme as New Delhi metallo beta lactamase,” the ministry said.

“We also refute that hospitals in India are not safe for treatment, including medical tourism,” it added.

The issue was also raised in India’s parliament, with angry MPs questioning the Lancet study, saying it was funded by pharmaceutical multi-national companies.

“When India is emerging as a medical tourism destination, this type of news is unfortunate and may be a sinister design of multi-national companies,” MP SS Ahluwalia of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party said.

Congress party’s Jayanthi Natarajan said the report of the superbug was a “wrong propaganda against the country”.

Indian medical tourism industry is growing rapidly and is estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.