The absolute incompetency of the TRS government in dealing with the ‘swine-flu epidemic’ has put Andhra Pradesh on a high State of alert.
AP lacks the necessary infrastructure to deal with any outbreak. It does not have a facility to perform the swine flu virology test and all samples have to be sent to the ‘Institute of Preventive Medicine’ in Hyderabad.
Although two ‘Indian Council of Medical Research Laboratories’ where swine flu samples can be tested, have been sanctioned to the State, they are yet to be fully operational.
Of the 11 patients from AP diagnosed with swine-flu, eight of them are being treated at corporate hospitals in Hyderabad. Of the remaining three, two of them are being treated at a hospital in Kakinada and the third person in Chennai.
What is noteworthy is that all the patients were infected with the virus after coming back from a trip to Hyderabad. Meanwhile, AP Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas assured the public that the situation was totally under control.
Due to the meager resources available, the government has set up special isolation wards in all government hospitals and provided the healthcare staff with protection kits.
“There is no shortage of medicines and the swine flu tablet Tamiflu is available in the state,“ AP health director Dr Aruna Kumari said at a press conference.
The prevailing situation has resulted in a call for the ‘Visakha Utsav’ to be postponed. The three day event is scheduled to begin on Friday. Dr P Shyamsundar, state secretary of ‘Andhra Pradesh Government Doctors Association’ (APGDA), demanded that the Visakha Utsav celebrations be deferred until the flu is brought under control in Telangana.
“There may be people coming down for the festival from the swine flu-affected districts. We have requested the government and medical health department to postpone the event till the situation in Telangana is under control.”
As of now, Vizag has enough stock to cater to about 1000 swine-flu patients.
