Dr KK Aggarwal
The outbreak of
acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) in Muzaffurpur has claimed 109
lives so far. AES has been occurring every year for the past so many years with
no solution in sight.
A visit by the Chief Minister
of the state, or the state or central health minister is alone not the answer.
Since this is a local outbreak
in Muzaffarpur and adjoining districts, the state should declare a public
health emergency and invoke the Essential Commodities Act. This would bring the
entire state health services, both government and private sectors under the
gambit of the Essential Commodities Act and Essential Services Maintenance Act
as ‘essential medical services’.
A multi-ministry
coordination and comprehensive action plan should be drawn up and acted upon.
·
Health Ministry: Should arrange
for 24x7 ICU, ventilators, ambulances; Asha workers should be provided
with glucometers and thermometers so that they can monitor the temperature and
blood sugar levels. They should be taught how to prevent deaths due to
hypoglycemia in children. They should be advised to give 1 teaspoon of sugar
sublingually (not as a drink) every 20 min in children < 15 years of
age. Make sure that the child does not clinch teeth or swallow
the sugar. All healthcare providers to do home to home survey
·
ICMR/DST/ all medical colleges: Should
spearhead research in the illness to understand its cause, to prevent future
such outbreaks
·
Agriculture Ministry: To act on rotten
litchis; advise farmers to destroy the rotten fruits, create awareness on harms
of eating only litchis by malnourished children.
·
Ayush Ministry: Should deliberate if
their pathy has some alternative treatment to offer
·
Women & Child Development Ministry: Should
look after the nutrition of the children in the area; an Evening Day Meal
Scheme for the children can be started in addition to the Midday Meal Scheme
already in place.
·
Transport ministry and Civil Aviation ministry: to
arrange for airlifting patients and shift them to other states for management,
as and when required
·
Law Ministry: should ensure that no
law and order problems arise in such situations and the action plan is
implemented smoothly
·
Environment Ministry: should
take all measures to prevent heat stroke in the area by providing
makeshift shelter homes
·
Military: can be called in for
house to house visits to identify probable cases; when Zika threatened Brazil
in 2015-16, when it was preparing to host the 2016 Olympic Games, the army was
called into action and asked to join the efforts to control the virus, which
was made into a public movement
Its time some concrete steps are taken to prevent
recurrence of this illness.
Dr KK Aggarwal
Padma Shri
Awardee
President Elect Confederation of
Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania
(CMAAO)
Group
Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications
President Heart
Care Foundation of India
Past National President
IMA
No comments:
Post a Comment