PUNE: The Union government has issued a statement that during the last five years, Pandemic Influenza A H1N1 ( swine flu) is the only disease that has been declared as a pandemic by WHO. Ministry of health has a crisis management plan that was updated last year and circulated to all concerned. This plan provides for Crisis Management Group and Technical Advisory Committee.
Emergency Medical Relief (EMR) Cell in directorate general of health services coordinates all public health emergency activities of national and international concern. Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) has nationwide surveillance for providing early warning signs. National Centre for Disease Control is the identified agency for investigating outbreaks. Laboratories under IDSP network and Indian Council of Medical Research have been identified for testing clinical samples. Ministry of health also provides support to the states in terms of guidelines and operating procedures, the statement said.
Government has approved a scheme for "Establishment of a network of laboratories for managing epidemics and natural calamities" to strengthen diagnostic capabilities of existing microbiology and virology laboratories in the country. The three tier network includes (i) Regional Level Bio Safety Level (BSL) -3 laboratories (ii) State Level BSL-2 Plus Laboratories (iii) Medical College BSL-2 Laboratories. An amount of Rs 639.48 crore has been approved for establishing 160 laboratories in the in this network all over the country, the statement added.
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