Coronavirus: The Center shared five different estimates, with the highest BCG figures
New Delhi:
Boston Consulting Group, a consulting company based in the United States, is helping the Indian Ministry of Health in its fight against COVID-19, learned GalacticGaming. BCG, headquartered in Boston and with a presence in 50 countries, is best known for providing strategic advice to businesses and governments on management solutions.
On its website, there is no specific mention of its expertise in responding to public health crises, such as the current pandemic.
“Boston Consulting Group (India) has the privilege of working with government stakeholders to prepare for the fight against COVID-19, including scenario mapping, response planning and trend analysis. BCG cannot comment on the details of the work, “The BCG said in a statement.
The health ministry declined to comment.
The role of the BCG emerged when the government shared estimates from various agencies and experts, including the Department of Statistics and Program Implementation, of the number of deaths and infections prevented by the foreclosure.
The government had shared five different estimates, with the highest BCG figures. According to projections by the focus group, between March 25 and May 15, approximately 36 to 70 lakh cases were averted and 1.2 to 2.1 lakh lives were saved due to the foreclosure. These were almost double the estimates given by others, who predicted that about 14 to 29 cases of lakhs had been prevented and that between 37,000 and 78,000 deaths had been prevented.
It is not known, however, how the BCG arrived at these figures. Several experts we interviewed said that the information shared by the government on the BCG projections does not provide enough detail to determine the basis for the forecasts.
GalacticGaming learned that in addition to making screenings, the BCG was also parked in the COVID-19 control room of the Ministry of Health.
While BCG India President Janmejaya Sinha declined to comment on specific details of the work they do for the ministry, he confirmed that a team from BCG was working in the Ministry of Health.
“We don’t talk about what we do with any client, anywhere. But at the Ministry of Health, they acknowledged that a team is working,” he said.
Experts say government use of business consultancy firms, while not unusual in normal times, is relatively unprecedented in a pandemic.
Sujata Rao, former Union secretary for health, said that this did not happen during her tenure in the ministry until December 2010. “We have never allowed foreign management consulting firms to be present. We have always worked with the WHO (World Health Organization). We have always asked organizations like the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) of the American government to come to help us. in the context of HIV-AIDS or in any of the viral epidemics we have faced such as H1N1, H5N1, or elsewhere, has the polio program ever had such agreements where … Consulting firms like this would work in the ministry’s control room, “she said.
T Sundararaman, former executive director of the Government’s National Health Systems Resource Center, said he believed “there are serious problems in using such groups of public policy consultants”, including “research customer-focused. “
“There are so many assumptions (in such models). So you know your business model wants more customer orders, so you tend to look at those assumptions which are favorable,” he said. .
“We are not pretending that we are epidemiologists. But we certainly know what crisis reform should be. We work with companies, governments that do it. And some of these things require discipline, and in fact good counseling skills. Because you have to be To scale up the problem, you have to have an action plan, “said Sinha.
As to whether there was a commercial role in the relationship with the Ministry of Health, Mr. Sinha said, “I have to be honest with you, I can’t speak to our engagement. We are not allowed to do it.”
