NEW DELHI, Feb 6: In the wake of swine flu outbreak, which has so far claimed 191 lives, the Health Ministry today asked the states having enough stocks of flu medicine to transfer it those having inadequate supplies.
The Ministry said it would send specialists to Rajasthan which has reported more casualties.
It also appealed to the states to be observant about the “vulnerable” population – patients having diabetes, hypertension and others – as comorbid conditions led to more deaths in some states.
“The Ministry has advised for inter-state transfer of drugs to states such as Punjab and Madhya Pradesh from states which have adequate stock of the drug to augment their supply.
“PPE and testing kits will be supplied immediately from NCDC to states which have requisitioned them. Specialist doctors will be sent to Rajasthan to assist them in treatment of patients in critical care,” a Health Ministry statement said, adding that most of the states have reported adequate stock of medicine along with syrup for children and PPE/masks.
The statement was issued after Additional Health Secretary Arun K Panda reviewed the preparedness of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Odisha through video conferencing.
The Ministry has also asked the states to constantly monitor the situation and that they should conduct Information Education and Communication (IEC) activities to create awareness among masses on ways to prevent the disease.
In the month of January alone, 191 people have died due to the H1N1 virus in the country, including 73 in Rajasthan.
“The Centre is closely monitoring the situation in the
states and has assured them all assistance in terms of medicine, testing kits, personal protective equipment and others.
“Teams have been sent to Telangana, Rajasthan and Gujarat to assess the situation and help them to manage the cases,” the Ministry said.
Today the situation was reviewed in terms of adequacy of isolation wards, medicines, personal protective equipment (PPE) and consumables such as masks.
The institutional preparedness of the states regarding sufficiency of testing labs and testing kits was also checked.
“The states were asked to indicate whether any assistance is needed to augment their stock of medicines, PPE and testing kits. Clarification was offered on certain technical issues raised by some states in terms of categorisation of the patients, screening and medical intervention,” the statement said.
Health Secretary B P Sharma had also reviewed the preparedness of the affected states through video conferencing a few days back. (PTI)
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