Union health ministry to issue guidelines on swine flu control

The union health ministry will issue guidelines to the Delhi government on control of swine flu including on vaccination, infection control and standard treatment protocols, an official release said here on Tuesday.

The decision was conveyed by union Health Minister J.P. Nadda during a meeting he had with his Delhi counterpart Satyendra Jain to review the preparedness in the capital for addressing and management of Influenza A H1N1 in the ensuing winter months.

Nadda assured all support and cooperation to the Delhi government in its efforts, said a health ministry statement.

He emphasized that it was a joint effort between the central and Delhi governments to ensure adequate measures are undertaken by health departments of both for timely and adequate action to minimize morbidity and mortality due to Influenza A H1N1.

During the joint meeting it was decided that guidelines for vaccination against the disease, infection control and standard treatment protocols would be shared with the Delhi government, hospitals of both the governments are to ensure adequate stock of drug Oseltamivir and other consumables and the Delhi government would work out a mechanism to fix ceiling rate in a realistic manner for testing of Influenza A H1N1 samples to minimize out of pocket expenditure by the general public.

It was also decided that data on cases due to Influenza A H1N1 in both central and Delhi government hospitals would be shared along with the media plans of both governments.

Testing facilities would be started in AIIMS, Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute and the National Institute of Malaria Research. These would be in addition to NCDC which is presently testing samples to diagnose Influenza A H1N1 in Delhi, the release added.