Centre calls meeting of states to check dengue spread

New Delhi, Oct 3 (UNI) Asserting that dengue has not taken an epidemic proportion, Health Minister Ambumani Ramadoss today said he has called a meeting of affected northern states on October 5 to deliberate on the alarming increase in disease cases.

The minister has called for a meeting with health ministers of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan on Thursday to discussed the measures to prevent dengue from spreading.

However, the minister said there was no need to panic as it has not taken form of an epidemic. Stating that the situation was under control, he only underlined the need to increase awareness about the disease.

Dr Ramadoss said the total number of dengue cases are 497, but it could go up by this evening as the Director General of Health Services R K Srivastava is holding a meeting with the MCD, NDMC and health officials.

Terming the situation at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) "unfortunate" where one student died last week, he said Delhi Government is doing well in containing the situation and the Centre is providing medication to all affected states.

Dr Ramadoss said he has spoken to AIIMS authorities to fix responsibility on those who failed to take preventive measures in stopping mosquito breeding in the campus as no action has been taken against anyone.

And whoever is responsible should be penalised. Of the 46 patients in AIIMS, who are receiving treatment for dengue, 16 are from its campus, while 30 are outsiders.

In the past six months the ministry has been periodically advising all the authorities about sanitation and preventing mosquito breeding he added.

Meanwhile, the health ministry has also called for a meeting of health ministers of chikungunya-affected states on October 11 to assess the situation. A health ministry team has been sent to Kerala to assess the situation.

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