Anthrax scare: Minister allays fears

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, OCT. 22. The Health Minister, Mr. P. Sankaran, said here on Monday that there was not much reason for a scare over anthrax in the State.

The Minister said the mail arriving from foreign countries were being screened at the regional sorting centres of the Department of Posts. The six samples of powder that caused scares in different parts of the State were being examined. In one case, the test result came negative. Testing was not complete in the remaining cases.

Mr. Sankaran told a press conference that the Government had constituted a rapid response force in the Health Department and had released a protocol for treatment to the doctors as a precautionary measure. Testing facilities were available at the medical colleges hospitals and public health laboratories.

He said that if any suspicious powdery material is received by some one, steps should be taken to prevent it from spreading. The material could be covered with plastic covers or other material and the matter reported to the authorities.

Anthrax, he said, was curable by antibiotics if detected at an early phase. The disease was last reported from a village near Mysore in 1999. Though anthrax usually affected animals, the State was free of anthrax because of the large scale immunisation of cattle against the diseases. The case reported from Mallapally recently was not anthrax.

The Minister said the Government had received the report of inquiry into the clinical trials done by the Regional Cancer Centre on cancer patients in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University of the United States. The report was on the lines of the inquiry report published by the Medical Council of India and said the chemical used in the experiments was not a banned drug. He said the full report might be tabled in the Assembly after the Cabinet discussed it.

Mr. Sankaran said there had been some difficulties in getting medicines from the multinational companies for sale through some of the pay counters in Government hospitals. The Drugs Controller had been asked to take suitable steps to remedy the situation. The problem was not serious and the companies had been told to supply the needed medicine. The Government did not want a confrontation with the companies over the issue, he said.

The Health Secretary, Mr. Ramamoorthy, the Director of Health Services, Mr. V. K. Rajan, and other officials were present at the press conference.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Opposition disrupts Assembly again
Next     : Najma Heptullah denounces terrorism