The dengue in State is being hyped up by the exaggerated reports as it not as prevalent, opined the State health Minister Surendra Singh Negi while undertaking a review meeting of the officials of state health department at Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday. He said that the ambitious Mukhyantri Swasthya Bima Yojna (MSBY) scheme would be relaunched by the state Chief Minister, Harish Rawat on August 01, 2016. The scheme would now have an enhanced cover of `1.75 lakhs.
On Dengue, the Minister claimed that orders for coordination between 11 State Government departments have been given to fight the menace of this disease. He said that all districts of the State are placed on a high alert for the disease and teams headed by respective CMOs is also made for quick response. Negi claimed that blood banks of the state have adequate stock of platelets which would be provided to the patients when required. He said that in the associated hospital of Doon Medical College hospital one isolation ward with a capacity of 20 patients is set up for Dengue patients.
Appealing the people not to allow collection of water in and around their houses the Minister said that prevention is the best way to combat the disease. He advised that bleaching powder and kerosene should be sprayed over the ditches where water is getting collected. He said that coolers, ACs and water tanks too should be regularly cleaned up.
On the MSBY the additional secretary health informed the minister that 8.25 lakh health cards have been prepared and most of them have been provided to the beneficiaries. Negi said that those who are yet to receive health card should contact the nearest health centre or Asha worker. He ordered the officials to complete the task of enrollment and empanelment of the hospitals so that it is clear where the patients are needed to be referred when the need arises. The Minister said that since number of pilgrims in Char Dham Yatra has decreased the doctors posted on the Yatra routes can be shifted elsewhere.
He also directed officers to take the help of doctors of Hans foundation for organising screening camps and asked the CMOs to prepare a roadmap of these camps. In the meeting he also ordered creation of more posts of drug inspectors in the State.
The meeting was attended by Secretary Health Bhupendra Kaur Olakh, Additional Secretary Neeraj Kherwal, Joint Secretary Atar Singh, Director General Health Services Dr Kusum Narriyal and IEC officer J C Pandey.