SAMBALPUR: Health and Family Welfare Minister Mukesh Mahaling took stock of the prevailing jaundice outbreak in Sambalpur during his visit to the city on Friday.
Mahaling first visited the Samaleswari temple to offer prayers to the deity after which he held a discussion with the district administration about the jaundice situation.
Briefing mediapersons, the minister said he was regularly taking updates on the jaundice outbreak via video conferencing. “After reviewing the ground reality, I directed the district administration to carry out repair and maintenance of supply pipelines through WATCO at the earliest. The situation is under control and there is no need to panic,” he assured.
Later in the day, Mahaling attended a function of the students union at VIMSAR, Burla and reviewed the issues at the institution brought to fore by the students and doctors who submitted a memorandum to the minister in this connection.
Mahaling said, “It’s been less than a month since the new government was formed. Improvement of health sector is a part of our 100-day action plan. Many problems have come to my notice during the visit and we will definitely take steps to redress them.”
About the botched up cataract surgery incident in which 13 patients partially lost their vision, Mahaling informed the eye clinic in Angul where the surgeries were conducted has been sealed.
“Further action will be taken on the basis of the Clinical Establishment Act. Stringent action will be taken after a thorough investigation,” he said further assuring strict probe into the case of the fake doctor found in Rourkela.
Meanwhile, as on Friday, the city recorded 110 cases including seven fresh ones reported in the last 24 hours. Six cases were detected from a new locality in Nayapada near Golebazar area in the city.