BENGALURU: The state government on Friday announced that it will set up a monkey fever laboratory in Shivamogga, for which it is preparing a Detailed Project Report (DPR). Health Minister B Sriramulu said that the earlier proposal was to set up a lab at Sagar but it has now been shifted to Shivamogga, following suggestions from experts. He, however, clarified that there was no political pressure involved in shifting the place.
Monkey fever cases have come down in the state, compared to the years gone by. “An order has been issued to district health officers (DHOs) to take measures to procure medicines,’’ Sriramulu said. Jawaid Akhtar, additional chief secretary (health), said the cabinet has given approval to set up the laboratory. “A DPR is being readied. We are setting up a Biosafety Level-3 (BSL-3) laboratory here, where we will be handling the virus directly, after taking the required precautions. We are, therefore, taking suggestions from experts at the National Institute of Virology. We are also seeking the help of Dr Gangadhar from the Armed Forces Medical College. In due course, we will call for a tender and start work on the lab,” Akhtar said.
Ayushman Bharat issues to be fixed
The Ayushman Bharat facility is included in just 400 government hospitals, while over 3,000 government hospitals have been identified. On the delay in issuing Ayushman cards, Pankaj Kumar Pandey, commissioner, department of health, said that Ayushman cards are being issued at BengaluruOne centres and many Gram Panchayat offices. In Karnataka, there are 4.40 crore people who hold BPL cards, of whom 1 crore have already received Ayushman cards. “We have issued more cards compared to other states. There was some issue with the Aadhaar server, but it has been sorted out. At many places, cards were issued at the doorstep,” he said.
Polio drive tomorrow
The health department has set up 33,021 booths to administer polio drops to 64.65 lakh children of less than five years of age on Sunday. There are more than 46,000 teams, with 1.09 lakh vaccinators working with 7,105 supervisors. There are also 977 mobile teams and 2,111 transit teams. Arrangements have been made to reach hilly areas, brick kilns, construction sites, nomadic populations, railway and bus stations.