Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that preventive measures for swine flu control must continue in view of change in climate. Medicines should be available in adequate quantity. The Chief Minister gave these directives at a meeting of State coordination committee for swine flu control on Monday. He decided to continue treatment of swine flu patients in private hospitals under CM’s Discretionary Fund till March 31.
Earlier, this facility was given upto March 15 to poor swine flu patients unable to bear expenses on their treatment in private hospitals. It was informed that number of swine flu patients visiting hospitals for test has decreased by 30 to 40 per cent. Swine flu has been effectively controlled compared to other States as a result of continuous alertness. lives of 1067 swine flue patients have been saved in the State.
The Chief Minister sought area-wise information about arrangements for swine flu treatment. He directed to increase awareness about sanitation. Tamiflu should be available in adequate quantity in centres set up for testing of swine flu. The medicine should also be made available in hospitals in nearby areas of major cities. Special attention should also be paid that doctors and paramedical staff engaged in swine flu treatment are not infected by it.
The meeting was informed that samples of 3,555 patients were obtained in the State from January 1 till date of which 1,461 were found positive.
In Government and private hospitals, 1,067 patients cured from disease and 200 patients are undergoing treatment. At Bhopal, Gwalior and Jabalpur, 200 swine flu samples are being tested everyday. For treatment, 550 screening centres have been set up. Two lakh 50 thousand Tamiflu tablets have been made available to private and Government hospitals in the State. These are enough to meet requirements till March 31.
Meanwhile, 1,000 doctors and paramedical staff engaged in swine flu treatment have been vaccinated. Medicines and treatment materials are available in adequate quantity in the State. Helpline has been started in every district. Now, Health Department will launch State-wide health dialogue campaign. From March 16 to 31, as many as 90,000 employees of Health Department and 980 Mamta Raths will visit door to door to make people aware about swine flue, dengue, malaria and diarrhoea.
They will advise people for early treatment. The Chief Minister directed that apart from chalking out schemes, their effective implementation should also be ensured. It was suggested at the meeting that medicine for Schedule X, under which the tamiflu available only at Government hospitals and some selected medical stores, should delete from schedule and made available to all medical stores. Doctors should be advised to refer patients with swine flu symptoms to concerning district hospitals or authorised private hospitals instead of treating themselves.