Swine flu deaths in Delhi much lower than national avg: Jain

NEW DELHI: The 0.3 per cent death rate in swine flu cases reported in the national Capital is much lower than the national average of five per cent, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said here on Friday.

Addressing the media, Jain said that out of 2,198 swine flu cases reported in Delhi till October 9, only eight persons had died.

The minister said that across the country, a total of 37,107 cases have been reported, out of which 2,025 persons had died, taking the death rate to around five per cent.

"The number of deaths and rate of deaths were very high particularly in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh," Jain stated.

Jain further said that a total of 368 chikungunya and 2,152 dengue casualties had been reported in the national Capital and one person had died due to dengue.

In another significant development, Jain said that the AAP-led Delhi government has decided to convert some dispensaries in the national Capital to mohalla clinics or polyclinics.

The city has around 160 dispensaries, which formed the first rung of primary health care until Arvind Kejriwal government launched the mohalla clinic project.

Mohalla clinics are part of a three-tier health care system envisaged by the AAP government, followed by polyclinics and hospitals.

"A few dispensaries will be converted to mohalla clinics while a few will upgraded to polyclinics or hospitals," Jain said.

Currently, there are about 25 functional polyclinics and the government plans to take it up to 150.

Mohalla clinics number are around 155 in number, and work is afoot to launch about 900 more by March next year.

Since the three-tier project was launched, there was confusion on the future of dispensaries, where government-appointed doctors are employed and diagnostic equipment are also procured and operated by government staff.

In the case of mohalla clinics, private doctors are appointed as consultants and their wages are tied to the number of patients they attend to.