State yet to gear up to tackle Zika virus

• Gandhi and Osmania Hospital authorities claim that they have not yet received guidelines to face the challenge
• Health and Family Welfare Commissioner Buddha Prakash M Jyothi, however, says necessary action has been taken and guidelines are issued two days ago

Hyderabad: While Andhra Pradesh government has stepped up its efforts to ensure that the Medical and Health Department is in a state of preparedness to tackle the possible Zika virus, the Telangana government is yet to gear up to meet the challenge.

As part of the action plan, AP Medical and Heath Minister Kamineni Srinivas held a video conference with the senior Health officials and district Collectors on Friday on the steps needed to be taken to check the possible spread of Zika virus. Indicating the action plan, the Minister directed the officials to establish help desks at the airports in Visakhapatnam, Gannavaram, Tirupathi and Puttaparthi, etc.

Similar desks would also be set up at the ports in Visakhapatnam, Gangavaram, Krishnapatnam and Kakinada, he added. Officials were asked to focus on persons returning from Latin American countries and Spain. Those apart, diagnostic tests to identify Zika virus positive cases would be carried out free of cost at all the District and Area Hospitals in the State. Each of these hospitals should earmark at least two beds to treat the Zika virus positive cases.

While carrying out the action plan to treat and contain the Zika virus, the Minister asked the senior Health officials to strictly to adhere to the World Health Organisation (WHO) protocols at every stage of implementing the action plan.

It was also decided to run awareness campaign in a big way about the Zika virus and especially on the “Aedes Aegypti” mosquito. Since large number of dengue cases were reported from Rayalaseema, Krishna, Visakhapatnam and Nellore districts, Health officials were asked to lay special focus in these districts.

However, in Telangana the government is yet to activate the Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) even three days after the Union Health Ministry issued guidelines to all State governments and doctors across the nation to prevent the spread of Zika virus.

The State run government hospitals claim that they had not yet received any guidelines from the Health Department. Speaking to The Hans India, Dr J V Reddy, Superintendent in the Gandhi Hospital, said no guidelines were received the State Health Department in this regard. The same was the case with Osmania Hospital. Dr G S V Suryanarayana Murthy, Superintendent in the Osmania General Hospital (OGH) said that they had not received any orders from the State Health Department.

However, he hoped that they would receive instructions regarding Zika in couple of days. Health and Family Welfare Commissioner Buddha Prakash M Jyothi, however, said that they had issued guidelines to all the government and private hospitals in Telangana Buddha Prakash further stated that they would conduct extensive campaigns through all the sources across the State to create awareness, in couple of days. Buddha Prakash requested the pregnant women not to travel long distances.