The Hindu : High-level panel to combat SARS

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 30, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala

High-level panel to combat SARS

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM APRIL 29 . Vigilance against the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) has been intensified in the State as new cases of this dreaded disease are surfacing elsewhere in the country.

The State Government today set up a high-level committee, chaired by the Chief Secretary, to coordinate the efforts to prevent the disease being carried into the State and contain it if, by any chance, it makes an appearance here.

Announcing this at a press conference here, the Health Minister, P. Sankaran, said the high-level committee would have the Principal Finance Secretary, the Secretaries of various other departments like Health, Local Self-Government and Urban Affairs, the Director of Health Services, the Director of Medical Education and the head of the Airport Authority as its members.

``This committee will have full powers to decide what should be done to combat the threat,'' he said.

Mr. Sankaran said the Health Department had requisitioned a sum of Rs. 60 lakhs for the anti-SARS campaign. This amount was expected to be released soon, he added.

"As the State that accounts for the largest number of Indians working abroad, including in the SARS-affected countries, Kerala is quite vulnerable to the threat of the disease. There is no room for complacency," Mr. Sankaran said.

No case of SARS has been reported from the State so far. Three persons, admitted to the hospital with symptoms similar to the disease, were later cleared of suspicion following tests conducted on their serum samples at the National Virology Institute in Pune.

Mr. Sankaran said the present situation had exposed the need for a competent virology institute in the State. The institute set up in Alappuzha a few years ago was still not having either the required staff or the facilities to be of any assistance in a contingency like the present one.

``The Health Department has decided to provide Rs. 50 lakhs to this institute from its allocation under this year's State Plan. We will be appointing a special officer at this institute immediately. It would be made a full-fledged virology institute with its own building, expert staff and all the necessary equipment within two years,'' he said.

Listing the measures taken by the Government to combat SARS, Mr. Sankaran said all passengers disembarking at the international airports in the State were being screened by special medical teams posted there. Three medical teams were working on rotation round the clock at each of the three international airports--Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode.

"So far, we have screened 17,628 international air passengers. An ambulance with driver is posted at the airports to shift suspected SARS patients to the nearest hospital designated to handle the disease. Special isolation wards are kept ready at the Government Hospitals in Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam and the Medical College Hospital in Kozhikode, fully equipped with oxygen sets, ventilators etc., in addition to the medicines recommended under the protocol for treating the disease,'' he said.

The Minister said that 50 `N-95 masks' to give protection against contracting the disease had been received by the State from the Centre. These had been distributed to the airports and the hospitals where the special isolation wards had been opened. The State was also importing 1,000 more such masks from the United States, he said.

The medical staff across the State has been alerted on SARS and the protocol of management of the disease has been communicated to them. An `epidemic cell' has started functioning in the Directorate of Health Services(DHS). (Ph: 0471-2302160, 2302490 and mobile 94472 04987).

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