NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that it was proactively providing all support to Bihar in containing and managing Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) which killed nearly 150 children in the state this year.
In an affidavit filed on a plea seeking measures for containment of the disease, the Centre said Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had visited Bihar on June 16, to review the situation in Muzaffarpur. “The land for the 100-bed Paediatric ICU is available in the premise of the SKMCH hospital and will be provided by the state,” the affidavit said.
It said a decision had been taken to set up five virology labs in different districts of from the National Health Mission funds. The location of the districts will be decided in consultation with the state.
“In the adjoining districts, 10-bed paediatric ICUs will be set up so that such cases can be treated early and there is no load on the facilities at SKMCH. Funds for this are to be provided through NHM,” the affidavit stated.