•Swine flu has created panic across the country. It is known that the death toll is increasing but one would like to question the role of the broadcast media in contributing to the panic. Further, why has the government not set records straight? This raises doubts over the capability of our health ministry, which has failed to take adequate preventive measures. Two possibilities arise; either the government is downplaying the pandemic or the media is egging the public along. Utmost attention now needs to be paid to educating people about the disease; perhaps the government should conduct a full-fledged nationwide awareness campaign.

— Neha Paul Patiala

Natural remedies

• Given the panic that surrounds the H1N1 virus and the outbreak of swine flu we need to remind ourselves of the natural rich and resourceful foods we have at our disposal (‘Treatment on...’, IE, August 12). People often forget the benefits of home remedies such as garlic, zinc and Vitamin A. We should be reminded of how medicine progressed before modernisation and laboratories. Strengthening the immune system has been proven to be effective in preventing diseases and one may often find preventive medications in unexpected places.

— M.S. Sivaraman Nagpur

Time running out

•Are our politicians merely pretending to be interested in climate change (‘Let’s put it to a vote’, IE, August 11)? One can easily find examples in the current practices of the government. The simple fact that some political leaders turned against the use of EVMs in elections betrayed their apparent lack of interest in saving paper. Not paying attention to the environment will usher in tsunamis, hurricanes, floods and droughts, water and food scarcity; so why not stem the problem right now? Further,

... contd.