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WHAT IS EPIDEMIC DISEASES ACT, 1897?
WHAT IS EPIDEMIC DISEASES ACT, 1897?
As India combats novel corona virus, the Union Government declared that all states and Union territories must invoke the provision of section 2 of the colonial era Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897. [1]The 123-year old has been used several times in the country for taking effective measures against the spread of the epidemic diseases.
This law when enacted during British Raj, was a state specific act, as it was brought in during the Bubonic Plague in Mumbai. The legislative intent is to protect the residents of a particular area infected with dangerous diseases. The act comprises only of 4 sections.
- Section 1 describes the title and extent
- Section 2 equips the state governments and union territories to formulate regulations for a temporary time-frame to contain the outbreak if they feel, that ordinary law are insufficient for the containment. Empowers them to appoint inspecting officers having necessary powers to inspect persons travelling by rail or otherwise, exercise disaggregation in hospitals or temporary accommodation.
- Section 3 provides penalties for disobeying of the said provisions made under section 2. It imposes a fine of Rs. 1000 and/or imprisonment of 6 months.
- Section 4 offers legal protection to implementing personnel under the act.
Section 4 is reinforced by the section 188 of the Indian Penal Code [2]which states that refusal to respect and follow a public order issued by an authorized public servant, by a person is punishable with a fine of Rs. 200 and/or imprisonment of 1 month. Also the second part of the section states that, if that refusal results in general public suffering, then it is punishable with 6 months of imprisonment and/or fine of Rs. 2000.
Over recent past India has seen several massive outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. Several of these caused widespread havoc. The outbreak of a cholera epidemic in 1992, the Surat plague in 1994, the global spread of Chikungunya and dengue fever, and that of avian influenza (H5N1) and pandemic H1N1 influenza. The century-old Act has significant drawbacks in this period of shifting emergency response strategies for public safety. The factors that contributed to the onset and spread of communicable diseases have evolved over the years.[3]
Some of the factors that are not addressed by the act are the growing rates of foreign travel, increased use of air travel over sea travel, increased migration for survival within states, shift from agricultural to industrial societies, increased urbanization, dramatically increased population density in some regions, increased intensity of contact with animals and birds, changing climatic conditions, mass food processing techniques, biosafety and public health policies failures.
Also, the Act does not provide for the interpretation of a "dangerous infectious disease." [4]There's no precise description of whether an outbreak is "dangerous" depending on the nature of the disease, its extent, characters observed in infected population or the potential for international dissemination. The Epidemic Diseases Act is not consistent with scientific understanding of today and needs some major overhauls.
[1] Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, available at https://indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/10469/1/the_epidemic_diseases_act%2C_1897.pdf (Last visited on 11 April, 2020).
[2] Section 188, Indian Penal Code, 1860.
[3] Dikid T, et al. Emerging and re-emerging infections in India: overview. Indian J Med Res. 2013, 19-31.
[4] Rakesh PS, The Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897: public health relevance in the current scenario, Indian journal of Medical Ethics, available at https://doi.org/10.20529/IJME.2016.043 (Last visited on 11 April, 2020).
- Epidemic Diseases
- Coronavirus
- Public Health measures
