Coimbatore: At a press meet held today, Dr. G R Ravindranath, the General Secretary of Doctors' Association for Social Equality and P Kalidasan, the All India President of Paramedical Lab and Welfare Association discussed the effects of dengue and lack of proactive measures by the Government to control it.
Coimbatore: At a press meet held today, Dr. G R Ravindranath, the General Secretary of Doctors' Association for Social Equality and P Kalidasan, the All India President of Paramedical Lab and Welfare Association discussed the effects of dengue and lack of proactive measures by the Government to control it.
With dengue fever rapidly spreading across Tamil Nadu, the Tamil Nadu Government statistics reveal that about 4,000 people have been affected by dengue. "A large number of patients are suffering from fever. Are they being tested for influenza, including dengue fever is the question. Not all Government hospitals have the facilities to perform dengue testing and hence people are forced to seek private hospitals and labs for their blood tests.
But Government officials are threatening private laboratories and asking them to not perform dengue tests. Government officials are taking such measures to keep the exact number of dengue victims from being exposed in the media. Also, labs are performing blood tests only as per doctor's orders. Therefore, the Government of Tamil Nadu should develop a new 'Treatment Protocol," opined members of the Association.
"The protocol should be reported to all doctors and medical examination centres. It is not right to intimidate the smaller labs to close down on account of this. Two days ago, a private blood test lab in Kumbakonam was fined Rs. 10,000 thousand for performing dengue testing using a Rapid Card system. In addition, state authorities have threatened to close the lab claiming that the Rapid Card system has been banned.
This is highly condemnable. The truth is that no GO is published in any State banning this method and no circular has been sent to the laboratories by the district administration. Moreover, as per the RTI Act of 2017, the Government had said that the card-checking system was not prohibited. Therefore, it is condemnable to intimidate and shut down small labs to keep a lid on the epidemic," alleged the Association members.
"Though dengue has affected Tamil Nadu to a great extent, the Tamil Nadu Government has not taken adequate measures to prevent it. The most important of dengue prevention measures is to eradicate mosquitoes that spread the disease. Although there are some vaccines, some problems have not helped in making the optimum use of them. In this case, the best way to prevent dengue is to prevent the spread of Ades mosquitoes which spread dengue.
Since these mosquitoes breed in fresh water, various mechanisms must be used to control this. It is very important to keep rainwater safe and to store water in the homes safely. It is also important to raise awareness among the public to employ more officers to prevent the spread of mosquitoes. But the Government has failed to do both," lamented the Association.
The members alleged that the Government also did not adequately recruit properly-trained staff. The lack of elections for local bodies for a long period has also affected mosquito eradication measures. Owing to water shortage, people have been storing water in open containers for long periods of time. These are the major causes of dengue.
"To cover up their inability to curb the spread of dengue, the Tamil Nadu Government is carrying out various diversionary tactics such as Nilavembu distribution. We are asking of the Government to take precautionary measures to control dengue and to stop threatening small labs," they added.
The Secretary of the Doctors Association for Social Equality, Dr. A R Shanti, Lab Technicians Association executives Dhanavanthan, Saravanan, Arumugam and Kumar were also present at the press conference.
With dengue fever rapidly spreading across Tamil Nadu, the Tamil Nadu Government statistics reveal that about 4,000 people have been affected by dengue. "A large number of patients are suffering from fever. Are they being tested for influenza, including dengue fever is the question. Not all Government hospitals have the facilities to perform dengue testing and hence people are forced to seek private hospitals and labs for their blood tests.
But Government officials are threatening private laboratories and asking them to not perform dengue tests. Government officials are taking such measures to keep the exact number of dengue victims from being exposed in the media. Also, labs are performing blood tests only as per doctor's orders. Therefore, the Government of Tamil Nadu should develop a new 'Treatment Protocol," opined members of the Association.
"The protocol should be reported to all doctors and medical examination centres. It is not right to intimidate the smaller labs to close down on account of this. Two days ago, a private blood test lab in Kumbakonam was fined Rs. 10,000 thousand for performing dengue testing using a Rapid Card system. In addition, state authorities have threatened to close the lab claiming that the Rapid Card system has been banned.
This is highly condemnable. The truth is that no GO is published in any State banning this method and no circular has been sent to the laboratories by the district administration. Moreover, as per the RTI Act of 2017, the Government had said that the card-checking system was not prohibited. Therefore, it is condemnable to intimidate and shut down small labs to keep a lid on the epidemic," alleged the Association members.
"Though dengue has affected Tamil Nadu to a great extent, the Tamil Nadu Government has not taken adequate measures to prevent it. The most important of dengue prevention measures is to eradicate mosquitoes that spread the disease. Although there are some vaccines, some problems have not helped in making the optimum use of them. In this case, the best way to prevent dengue is to prevent the spread of Ades mosquitoes which spread dengue.
Since these mosquitoes breed in fresh water, various mechanisms must be used to control this. It is very important to keep rainwater safe and to store water in the homes safely. It is also important to raise awareness among the public to employ more officers to prevent the spread of mosquitoes. But the Government has failed to do both," lamented the Association.
The members alleged that the Government also did not adequately recruit properly-trained staff. The lack of elections for local bodies for a long period has also affected mosquito eradication measures. Owing to water shortage, people have been storing water in open containers for long periods of time. These are the major causes of dengue.
"To cover up their inability to curb the spread of dengue, the Tamil Nadu Government is carrying out various diversionary tactics such as Nilavembu distribution. We are asking of the Government to take precautionary measures to control dengue and to stop threatening small labs," they added.
The Secretary of the Doctors Association for Social Equality, Dr. A R Shanti, Lab Technicians Association executives Dhanavanthan, Saravanan, Arumugam and Kumar were also present at the press conference.