As the cases of dengue and chikungunya are on decline, the Centre is gearing up to tackle another battle on the health front: the seasonal influenza (H1N1) or swine flu.
Union Health Minister JP Nadda said on Friday that 26 Government laboratories are ready to test clinical samples of influenza. Test kits are in stock to test 10,000 samples, Nadda told reporters after holding a high-level meeting in this regard.
Senior Ministry officials, representatives from National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and those from hospitals of Central Government were present in the meeting.
Nadda also directed the officials to review the existing stock of laboratory reagents, drugs and personal protective equipment and take necessary steps to augment them, if needed.
Further, the Health Minister has called for reviewing the guidelines prepared and its issuance for better management of cases of Influenza.
Assuring there’s no shortage of Oseltamivir drug, recommended by the WHO, Nadda said a group of technical experts have been asked to examine ways and means to increase the availability of diagnostic tests and the drug at peripheral levels, including chemists in private sector.
He said Oseltamivir cannot be sold over the counter and is made available only against prescription by a qualified doctor and sold through a chemist with licence under Schedule X of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act while it also available through the public health system.
“We cannot afford a situation where due to irrational use of the drug, resistance is developed, rendering the drug incapable of fighting the virus,” he added. Nadda has also asked the States to assess and fill the gaps for effective ventilatory management of influenza cases.
According to him, there is sufficient stock of personal protective equipment and N-95 masks. Isolation facilities will also be put in place across hospitals from November. The Centre has offered help to the states to train health workers to deal with cases of swine flu and will also assist them provide effective ventilatory management, he added.
last year, swine flu virus, killed more than 1,800 people in the country as on March 2015. Experts said that it has undergone no mutation but would “continue” to circulate as a seasonal phenomenon.
Meanwhile, with WHO recently warning that Zika infections are “highly likely” to spread in Asia, the Union Health Ministry said there are no such cases so far in the country but added that a response framework and action plan is being prepared within ten days to effectively tackle the virus.