Immediate action to fight Encephalitis! Centre sends another high-level multi-disciplinary team to Bihar

Patna, June 18: Increasing numbers of Encephalitis cases has led the centre to decide to immediately send another high-level multi-disciplinary team to Bihar. The team will undertake the necessary groundwork for setting up a state-of-the-art multi-disciplinary research centre at Muzaffarpur. also, It has been decided that the state government will bear the whole treatment expense.

 

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan today reviewed the situation arising out of the reported cases of AES and Japanese Encephalitis at a high-level meeting with officers of his Ministry in New Delhi. According to an official release, Dr Vardhan said, the research team will work with the children suffering from AES and JE looking at various aspects including periodicity, the cycle of disease, environmental factors and metrological data, besides other factors.

Emphasising the need for early detection and treatment of hypoglycemia cases, Dr Harsh Vardhan said that a dedicated team of doctors should be placed in endemic PHCs with required facilities at least for 3 to 4 months before and during the onset of disease and they may be incentivised under NHM appropriately. As for the present, the concerned PHCs and CHCs should take prompt corrective measures for hypoglycaemia at the facility itself to utilize the golden hour, he added.

 

The Health Minister said that five virological labs will be set up in different districts in Bihar. He during his recent visit to Bihar, he has instructed to set up a 100-bedded paediatric ICU at S K Medical College and Hospital by the State Government. He said, in the adjoining districts, 10 bedded paediatric ICUs will also be set up with support from the Centre.