CUTTACK: A day after Orissa High Court directed the Government to form a high-level panel on combating jaundice outbreaks in the State, Health Secretary Arti Ahuja on Friday visited the affected pockets of Cuttack.
The outbreak in Cuttack has spread to several localities with 12 more cases detected on Friday, taking the total number to 116.
Ahuja held a meeting with the RDC and Collector along with senior Health, Urban Development and PHD officials to take stock of the situation. The meeting decided to intensify health interventions through door-to-door screening across affected localities and adjoining ones even as efforts are on to repair and replace the pipeline systems.
The administration and PHD have identified illegal connections as a major contributor to the outbreak. The survey of affected parts has been completed and over 500 broken and leaking pipelines have been detected. These are in the process of being replaced, the administration officials said.
The meeting also decided to deploy more field health workers like ASHAs and ANMs by diverting workforce from other parts of the district. More than 40 health workers would be engaged in community visits, awareness campaign along with distribution of medical kits, halogen tablets and screening of people for signs and symptoms of jaundice.
While the Government has announced free treatment and medicines for patients, the SCB Medical College and Hospital has readied a special ward for patients. A team of senior doctors has also been formed for treatment of patients, Director, Public Health Kailash Das said.