Centre reviews situation in dengue-affected states

Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha held a meeting with senior officials of the Centre and Delhi government, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and MCD, extended all help, an official release from the Health Ministry said.

He also held a video conference with officials in dengue-affected states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat and assured support to manage the situation.

Sinha directed the states to set up a 24x7 separate unit in each hospital manned by a senior doctor to attend all fever related cases. He urged private <g data-gr-id="19">hospials</g> to join in the effort as a large number of people go to these hospitals for care and treatment, it said.

In Delhi, he directed all hospitals to use the mobile clinics, wherever available, and to put to use spare ambulances as mobile clinics to reach out to a larger section of affected people. “A renewed focus should be imparted to preventive measures. Central and Delhi governments should coordinate their efforts in a concerted manner on a daily basis to deal with the situation,” the release said.

The Cabinet Secretary asked the CGHS to extend their facility to non-members to deal with the recent upsurge of dengue in various states.

After Punjab and <g data-gr-id="58">Haryana</g> their common capital Chandigarh has been witnessing a sudden surge in the number of dengue cases this season as 136 people have tested positive for the vector-borne disease till on Monday. In the wake of rising dengue cases and death of a teenage boy at a hospital here two days ago due to suspected dengue fever, an emergency meeting was held under the Chairmanship of UT's Health Secretary Anurag Agarwal to assess the preparedness. Notably, dengue has claimed two lives in Punjab and Haryana each. In Punjab, the confirmed cases have already crossed the 1,000 mark while positive cases in Haryana were also inching close to this mark. 

Commissioner Municipal Corporation, Sub Divisional Magistrates of Chandigarh South and East, DPI Schools, Director Health Services, Assistant Director Malaria, experts from PGIMER, among others also attended the meeting. The main purpose of the meeting was to chalk out a future strategy for the containment of dengue jointly by the Health Department, Municipal Corporation, PGIMER, besides others, an official release said. The Blood Bank of two hospitals--PGIMER and GMCH-- will ensure <g data-gr-id="44">availability</g> of blood platelets for the dengue patients admitted in their respective hospitals.