By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Amid an intensifying heat wave, leading to deaths and hospitalisations in some states, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting with representatives of seven affected states and reviewed public health preparedness.
At the virtual meeting, the states were directed to share data on heat waves, including on deaths, for a better assessment of the situation.
They were also asked to implement the State Action Plans at the ground level along with issuing timely warnings to people.
The meeting with the health ministers and officials of the seven states, which included Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the worst affected as deaths and hospitalisation has been reported, came a day after the health minister dispatched a central team to these states.
The other states which are witnessing extreme heat waves and attended the meet were Odisha, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
After the meeting, the health minister tweeted that he had a “fruitful meeting” with health ministers and senior officers of the seven states affected by heat waves, along with Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai.
Had a fruitful meeting with Health Ministers & senior officers of 7 States affected by heat waves, along with Minister @NityanandRaiBJP Ji.Highlighted the importance of joint efforts between Centre & States for effective management of any disaster, including severe heatwaves. pic.twitter.com/htKbwnUB8Q
— Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) June 21, 2023
“Highlighted the importance of joint efforts between Centre & States for effective management of any disaster, including severe heatwaves. With coordinated actions, we can surely ensure there are no deaths due to heat waves,” he tweeted.
He said he also “urged states to implement the State Action Plans at the ground level with a timely warning to the people, and ensure preventive preparedness to reduce the severe impact of heatwaves.”
“Effective disaster response and management is a collaborative work,” he said.
In the meeting, states were asked to ensure preparedness of healthcare facilities, availability of essential medicines and logistics; and enhance awareness among people.
A granular status and analysis of overall heatstroke cases and deaths in India and heat-related illness in the seven affected states were made by the union health ministry officials covering the trajectory of total emergency OPD, suspected and confirmed heatstroke cases and deaths; and their reporting as per Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) portal, the union health ministry said in a statement.
Mandaviya said that heatwave alerts and forecasts from the Indian Metrological Department (IMD) are being amplified and shared with all states daily by the Centre.
He urged states to develop training manuals on heat and health for state officials, medical officers and health workers.
“State-level trainers need to ensure that their training is up to field level. Capacity building of medical officers, health staff & sensitization of grassroots level workers on heat illness, with focus on early recognition and management using training manuals provided by Union Health Ministry is crucial”, he said.
States were also advised to review health facility preparedness in terms of essential medicines, intravenous fluids, Ice-packs, ORS, drinking water, ensuring uninterrupted electricity supply, installation of solar panels and adopting measures to reduce indoor heat through the installation of cool/green roofs, window shading, shades, etc
Highlighting the lack of accurate data from the ground, Minister Rai urged states to share field-level data on heatwaves, including on deaths and cases, so that a realistic assessment of the situation can be made.
He also stressed on the importance of timely action as soon as IMD alerts are received in the states.
“Timely, advanced and wide awareness among the people on the preventive measures will hugely support in reducing the severe impact of such heat waves,” Rai said.
NEW DELHI: Amid an intensifying heat wave, leading to deaths and hospitalisations in some states, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting with representatives of seven affected states and reviewed public health preparedness.
At the virtual meeting, the states were directed to share data on heat waves, including on deaths, for a better assessment of the situation.
They were also asked to implement the State Action Plans at the ground level along with issuing timely warnings to people.
The meeting with the health ministers and officials of the seven states, which included Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the worst affected as deaths and hospitalisation has been reported, came a day after the health minister dispatched a central team to these states.
The other states which are witnessing extreme heat waves and attended the meet were Odisha, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
After the meeting, the health minister tweeted that he had a “fruitful meeting” with health ministers and senior officers of the seven states affected by heat waves, along with Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai.
Had a fruitful meeting with Health Ministers & senior officers of 7 States affected by heat waves, along with Minister @NityanandRaiBJP Ji.
Highlighted the importance of joint efforts between Centre & States for effective management of any disaster, including severe heatwaves. pic.twitter.com/htKbwnUB8Q
— Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) June 21, 2023
“Highlighted the importance of joint efforts between Centre & States for effective management of any disaster, including severe heatwaves. With coordinated actions, we can surely ensure there are no deaths due to heat waves,” he tweeted.
He said he also “urged states to implement the State Action Plans at the ground level with a timely warning to the people, and ensure preventive preparedness to reduce the severe impact of heatwaves.”
“Effective disaster response and management is a collaborative work,” he said.
In the meeting, states were asked to ensure preparedness of healthcare facilities, availability of essential medicines and logistics; and enhance awareness among people.
A granular status and analysis of overall heatstroke cases and deaths in India and heat-related illness in the seven affected states were made by the union health ministry officials covering the trajectory of total emergency OPD, suspected and confirmed heatstroke cases and deaths; and their reporting as per Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) portal, the union health ministry said in a statement.
Mandaviya said that heatwave alerts and forecasts from the Indian Metrological Department (IMD) are being amplified and shared with all states daily by the Centre.
He urged states to develop training manuals on heat and health for state officials, medical officers and health workers.
“State-level trainers need to ensure that their training is up to field level. Capacity building of medical officers, health staff & sensitization of grassroots level workers on heat illness, with focus on early recognition and management using training manuals provided by Union Health Ministry is crucial”, he said.
States were also advised to review health facility preparedness in terms of essential medicines, intravenous fluids, Ice-packs, ORS, drinking water, ensuring uninterrupted electricity supply, installation of solar panels and adopting measures to reduce indoor heat through the installation of cool/green roofs, window shading, shades, etc
Highlighting the lack of accurate data from the ground, Minister Rai urged states to share field-level data on heatwaves, including on deaths and cases, so that a realistic assessment of the situation can be made.
He also stressed on the importance of timely action as soon as IMD alerts are received in the states.
“Timely, advanced and wide awareness among the people on the preventive measures will hugely support in reducing the severe impact of such heat waves,” Rai said.
