Swine flu: Toll 124 in Gujarat, Congress targets GoI, Nadda meets Modi
February 13, 2015
Ahmedabad
Swine flu claimed eight more lives in Gujarat today, taking the total number of deaths due to the H1N1 virus to 124 this year.
Out of the eight victims, two patients died in Kutch, and one each in Vadodara, Dahod, Surat, Jamnagar, Gandhinagar as well as Amreli district, a release issued by the state government said here.
159 fresh cases of swine flu were recorded across the state, taking the total number to 1,392 cases, it said.
Besides following standard procedures of treatment, the Gujarat state government has also begun distribution of ayurvedic and homoeopathic medicines to increase immunity against swine flu.
According to a release, more than 1.60 lakh people have been given these medicines across the state.
Congress targets Govt over ”failure” to check swine flu outbreak
New Delhi
Voicing concern over rising cases of swine flu in the country, Congress today accused the government of “criminal negligence” in the matter.
AICC General Secretary Ajay Maken told reporters that instead of taking steps on a war footing to check the outbreak, government has slashed the budget of the Health ministry by Rs 6,000 crore.
He claimed that there was paucity of vaccination and tablets for the treatment of the flu even in the national capital and protective gear for the doctors and nurses were hardly available.
Claiming that there were no testing laboratories in government hospitals, he said that patients are being charged in the range of Rs 5,000 to Rs 9,000 for the tests in private facilities.
Maken also accused the government of failing to launch an awareness drive through the media to make people aware about the ‘dos and don’ts’.
He lamented that this was happening at a time when there have been full page advertisements in newspapers “to promote personalities”.
Latest reports say the death toll has risen to 485 with maximum number of casualties reported from Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Maken also announced a free vaccination camp for AICC reporters from tomorrow.
Nadda meets PM
New Delhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is believed to have been briefed by Health Minister J P Nadda today on the spurt of swine flu cases in the country after the the number of casualties due to the disease touched 485.
Although, there was no official word about what transpired in the meeting, sources said Nadda met Modi right after the Union Cabinet meeting in the morning at South Block to update and brief him about the swine flu situation.
“There was an appointment of the Health Minister with the Prime Minister right after the Cabinet,” a source in the Health Ministry said.
The meeting comes after 6,298 cases have been reported all over the country from January 1 to February 12 which has claimed the lives of 485 people.
Gujarat has recorded the second highest number of deaths due to swine flu after Rajasthan. In Gujarat, 117 people have died of swine flu with the state reporting 1,233 cases while Rajasthan has seen the maximum 130 deaths with 1,631 cases.
Though a senior health ministry expressed ignorance about today’s meeting, he said the health ministry sends its report on swine flu to the PMO on a daily basis.
“We keep them posted everyday. One report goes to PMO, sometimes we send it to cabinet secretariat. It is daily monitoring,” he added.
It is worth mentioning that Nadda had recently visited Gujarat and reviewed the swine flu situation. He had held meeting with state Health Minister Nitin Patel and other top officials of the department and had expressed satisfaction over the steps taken by the state government in tackling the disease.
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