NEW DELHI: A clear lack of coordination was observed between different agencies in Delhi in a meeting held on Tuesday with Health Minister Satyendra Jain over the preparedness to face any H1N1 virus spread in the national capital.
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the Health department of the Delhi government got into a heated argument, both stating different numbers of deaths due to Swine flu this year, Delhi government said only two such deaths have been recorded while AIIMS stated that as per their records eight people have been reported dead. The minister was irked by this attitude and warned all the agencies that no lax attitude will be tolerated.
“In the meeting, there was an argument between the AIIMS representative and the Director of Health Delhi government over the number of deaths due to Swine flu in the national capital. None of the sides was willing to accept each other's numbers” said an official present at the meeting headed by Jain.
H1N1 commonly known as swine flu is a human respiratory flu mostly reported during winters was declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Since then, Delhi and most of the country has been reporting swine flu cases.
The minister further asked all the agencies to ensure that there should not be any shortage of drugs and vaccines required in dispensaries across the city.
According to sources, a drug retail company based in Rajasthan was zeroed upon for the procurement of drugs used to cure the flu. Civic bodies Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) private hospitals were also present in the meeting.