'No Need to Panic' for Swine Flu: Ajit Seth

Instructions to ensure sufficient medical supplies and necessary treatment to patients with H1N1 virus have been given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asserted Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth on Thursday. He said there is no need to panic as there is sufficient stock of medicines for supply.

"There has been an increase in the cases on swine flu in the past few weeks and there have been a few deaths as well. However, the government is trying its best to tackle it. The whole situation has been reviewed. The Prime Minister has given instructions to ensure that medicines are available and that patients get the necessary treatment," said Seth.

"I had a review with the heads of all the states majorly affected by swine flu. There is no need to panic as we have a sufficient stock of medicines for supply. But people need to go for a check-up as soon as they witness any symptoms of swine flu as most of the deaths that have been reported were due to late inspection of the disease," he added.

Earlier in the day, the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), under the chairmanship of Seth, reviewed the latest situation arising due to H1N1 in some states and the reported shortage of drugs or any other logistics.

The Cabinet Secretary also offered them necessary central assistance.

He stressed that the states should ensure that the outbreak monitoring cells and necessary help-lines function round-the-clock.

The Chief Secretaries and Medical Heads of the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi informed the Cabinet Secretary through video conferencing about the availability of drugs, testing kits, diagnostic labs, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), masks etc. in their states.

These states reported that they have adequate number of medicines and other logistic support. Maharashtra and Haryana have requested for some medicines to augment their emergency stock which are being supplied to them by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare immediately.

Health Secretary B.P. Sharma informed that he has been regularly reviewing the situation through telephone and video conferencing with the states affected with H1N1 and assisting them with the requested material.

Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda had earlier said that there is no dearth of medicines and hospitals are equipped to deal with swine flu.

Swine flu deaths have soared to 663 across the country. Swine flu cases have been reported from new states like Jammu and Kashmir and Nagaland. Authorities in these two states have issued alerts following the detection of H1N1 cases.

Source: ANI