I&B min asks TV channels to create awareness on swine flu

With swine flu presenting a grim situation in the country, the ministry for information and broadcasting has asked television channels to create greater awareness about the viral infection among the people.

Ministry officials today said though no formal advisory has been issued to television channels, they have been informally asked to spread information about preventive measures being taken to check the spread of the virus.

"Channels have been sounded off to spread awareness rather than create panic among people," a ministry official said.

Last week, after a news channel ran a programme on swine flu, where it apparently reported that the spread of the virus had gained epidemic proportions, the ministry planned to send it an advisory, but later decided against it and informally asked all channels to try not to spread panic among people.

 

When contacted, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA), the representative body of news channels, also denied having received any formal order from the ministry on swine flu reportage.

"There is no formal intimation from the ministry about this to us," NBA Secretary General Annie Joseph said.

At the same time, she added that the reportage regarding the virus spread has been responsible and efforts have been made to keep it informative.

NBA also denied having received any kind of objectionable directive from the health ministry about it.