Centre to set up lab, give assistance to control Chickungunya

New Delhi, Oct 4 (UNI) Alarmed by the rising incidents of Chickungunya in Southern States, the centre has decided to set up a Bio-Safety Lab in the region and augment financial support to affected states.

Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said the new Bio Safety lab would help in easy detection of all the vector borne diseases.

At present the country has only two such labs including the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) in Delhi and one in Pune.

However, the location of the new lab was yet to be decided and it would come up only in one year's time, he clarified while answering a question regarding southern states facing difficulty in timely detection of Chickungunya which is a viral disease spread by mosquitos.

At present the disease is being identified clinically and the blood samples are selected randomly and sent to the existing two centres. He said setting a new institute in South would help these states in dealing with diseases like Chickungunya which has witnessed outbreak after 32 years. The Vector disease control programme is also needed to be effectively implemented, he said.

Dr Ramadoss said he has called a meeting of the health ministers of chikungunya-affected states on October 11 to assess the situation. Chickengunia has affected seven to eight states including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and some parts of Rajasthan. However, Kerala was the worst affected with about 60 deaths being reported due to secondary complications developed due to improper treatment, he said.

Asserting that Chickungunya was not a fatal disease and could be treated by using paracetamol and adequate intake of water by the patients, Dr Ramadoss said that all the 60 deaths were due to complications and renal failure caused due to improper treatment of the disease.

He said a team of experts from NICD have been sent to the state to conduct ''verbal autopsy'' of these cases to ascertain the real cause of the deaths. He said the Director General of Health Services would also visit Kerala soon to assess the situation.

Dr Ramadoss said the centre is providing all possible help to the Chickungunya affected states including medicines, insecticides and fogging machines. He said his ministry would augment the financial help being provided to these states.

Pointing out that the outbreak of Chickungunya has taken place due to climatic changes and mosquito breeding, the Health Minister said increasing awareness about the disease was necessary to effectively tackle it. He said the government could not reach every household, the people and community has to realise its role in controlling the breeding of mosquitoes and Kerala being the most literate state, its people should realise the importance of basic hygiene.

UNI AJ PR BD2011