A PRESCRIPTION FOR HEALTH DISASTER 151 If this assault on our body politic is not halted, it is inevitable that millions of the poorest two deciles, representing over 150 millions of our population, will die within the next few years as a result of malnutrition due to increasing poverty and deterioration of living conditions. These deaths will then be ascribed to diseases like tuberculosis, cholera, gastroenteritis and plague. The fire fighting approach of the present health services will hardly be able to tackle this major debacle resulting from economic distress. To crown it all, the price of essential drugs and vaccines will rise manifold due to GAIT and its Intellectual Property Rights agreement just when they will be most required. It is still possible to anticipate and pre-empt this morbid scenario whose ugly head is already visible. This can happen only if public awareness is raised before it is too late. NOTES AND REFERENCES 1. National Planning Committee, Report of the Sub-Committee on National Health, Vora and Co., Bombay, 1948. 2. Govt. of India, Report of the Health Survey and Development Committee, Government of India Press, New Delhi, 1946. 3. Indian Council of Social Science Research and Indian Council of Medical Research, Health for All: An Alternative Strategy, Indian Institute of Education, Pune, 1980. 4. Govt. of India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Statement on National Health Policy, New Delhi, 1982.