Be prepared 2

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India occupies only 2.4 percent of the world’s land area, yet it supports around 16 percent of the global population. With over a billion people*, its average population density is higher than any other nation of comparable size - andit continues to add the equivalent of Australia’s total population every year!

It should come as little surprise then that this overpopulation leads to severe economic hardship and, in turn, to diseases which we fortunate Westerners seldom, if ever, encounter. So, I’ve been careful to be prepared for disease.

Like most NHS doctors’ surgeries, ours dispenses free inoculations against the most virulent of the nasties to which the people of India are routinely exposed. Jabs against diphtheria and tetanus in my left arm and typhoid in the right meant sleeping on my back for a couple of nights! Fortunately, my 1997 polio booster was up to date and the Hepatitis A jabs I had in '94 and '95 apparently gave me lifetime immunity.

All this for a fortnight away seems a bit OTT, but I know which of the two - the disease or the jabs - I prefer.

I had to pay for anti-malarial pills - two different types, two of one kind to be taken once a week and two of the others daily. The pharmacist only prescribed one sort of prophylactic** for India in '97. The mosquitoes seem to have improved their immunity since then!

*1,027,015,247 people to be precise, according to the 1 March 2001 census. Another five Australias have been added since.

**The Oxford English Dictionary defines a prophylactic as a preventative medicine. I believe that, in North America, a prophylactic is another name for a condom - using one of those might save you from a lot of things, but malaria isn’t one of them!

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Photos

Tourists come from India too!
With a billion people, the home tourism market is big too.
By the way, that's a parasol he's carrying, not an umbrella.

One puppet?
"Good morning, Sir. Good morning Madam. One puppet?" I wonder what we would have done with it if we'd have bought one.