New Delhi, Nov 1 (Bureau) The Union Health Ministry on Monday convened a high-level meeting, where it asked the Delhi Government to ramp up testing measures for effective diagnosis of Dengue outbreak in the national capital. According to a statement issued by the Union ministry, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya chaired a meeting to review the public health measures taken for control and management of Dengue in the national capital.
He said the inadequate testing was leading to suffering of poor people, who were affected most by Dengue and were unable to receive treatment due to lack of proper diagnosis of the vector borne-disease. “Many poor people are not diagnosed properly and their death goes unreported,” he added. Delhi is witnessing a severe outbreak of Dengue and other vector-borne diseases. The hospitals are reporting a huge incoming of patients exhibiting fever and Dengue-like symptoms. A few days ago, the city government had admitted that every one out of four cases of fever is turning positive with Dengue. The latest weekly report by civic bodies has recorded five fresh casualties caused due to Dengue. The death toll due to Dengue in the city has risen to six, while the case tally has reached 1,537. Of which, 1,196 were reported in October alone.
Meanwhile, the Union Minister also stressed the need for effective co-ordination between the Centre and the state government to chalk out a detailed action plan to combat Dengue, the Ministry said. He also observed that some hospitals are over-burdened with dengue cases, while beds continue to remain empty in other hospitals. Mr Mandaviya requested the Delhi officials to look into the possibility of repurposing Covid-19 beds to treat Dengue, the Minister added. The Delhi Government has already asked the hospitals to divert one-third of the beds reserved for Covid-19 cases for the treatment of patients affected by Dengue and other vector-borne diseases.