NEW DELHI: With nine more people dying in Bihar in the past 48 hours due to severe heatwave conditions in many states, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday asked a team of experts to visit the affected areas in the two states. The minister chaired a high-level meeting on public health preparedness for heatwave management across the country.
The experts to be dispatched to parts of UP and Bihar are drawn from the health ministry, Indian Council of Medical Research, and National Disaster Management Authority. Mandaviya also directed the ICMR to conduct research on how to minimise the effects of heatwaves on health, with specific short, medium and long-term action plans.
The minister said the Centre has taken timely measures ahead of the summer season to address heatwave-related illnesses. The ministry had advised the states to review health preparedness in terms of essential medicines, intravenous fluids, ORS and drinking water. The National Action Plan on Heat-Related Illnesses was also shared with all the states.
Mandaviya was briefed on the status of heatwaves in various states and the preparedness of Central agencies. It was apprised that daily surveillance of heat-related illnesses under the National Programme on Climate Change and Human Health has been ensured in all states.
The National Action Plan on heat-related Illnesses, prepared by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare was released in July 2021. It outlines the standard operating procedures for the surveillance of heatstroke cases with a preparedness plan before and during the summer season.
UP, Bihar worst hit
UP’s Ballia district hospital has reported 68 deaths due to a heatwave in five days till Monday.
In Bihar, 5 casualties were reported from Bhojpur, 3 in Arwal and one in Jehanabad in two days.
Health Ministry sending experts drawn from ICMR and NDMA