Worried over increasing number of swine flu cases, State Chief Minister Harish Rawat took a meeting of senior health officials at his residence on Sunday. At the meeting, the Chief Minister asked the Director-General (DG) of Health Services to personally monitor the arrangements made to combat the disease.
He said that every patient should be properly treated and if required the services of private hospitals should also be taken. He ordered the health officials to undertake awareness campaign to remove fear psychosis in the general public. Rawat said that a special cell should be constituted where daily reports from districts are compiled and analysed. He said that the there is no dearth of funds for procurement of drugs required to combat the disease.
The CM said that Doon hospital should ensure that no suspected patient of the disease is turned away from the hospital and if need arises such patients should be referred to the private medical centres. The CM appealed to the people of the State that they should not get panicked by swine flu as it is a totally curable disease. He said the medical health department should tell people about the symptoms and treatment of the disease.
Rawat said that since the disease is particularly more prevalent in Dehradun, Haridwar and Udam Singh Nagar districts, the health officers of these districts should be extra cautious. The CM said that the hospitals being run under Private Public Partnership (PPP) mode should improve their services. He said that an incentive of Rs25 per case to the Asha Workers should be given as they are doing an appreciable job.
The DG Health Dr G S Joshi said that swine flu is three step disease but the fact is that the test of the disease is usually done when it is in third stage. He said that if the fever is consistently high then the treatment of swine flu should start. Dr Joshi said that 70 suspected cases are reported in the state till date out of which reports of 41 cases has come from National Centre of Disease Control (NCDC) according to which 10 samples are positive.
He claimed that the state has adequate stock of the swine flu medicine. Dr Joshi said that special wards with ventilator facility are set up in the hospitals of the state and if the situation demands wards in private hospital can also be reserved. He informed that two patients have succumbed to the disease in the State. The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary Health Om Prakash, Director General Information Chandresh Kumar and CMOs of Dehradun and Haridwar districts.