Himanta Biswa Sarma: Doctors’ Leave Cancelled; Absence To Invite FIR

GUWAHATI: Determined to fight JE (Japanese Encephalitis) and AES (Acute Encephalitis Syndrome), the State Health and Family Welfare Department Himanta Biswa Sarma has cancelled leave of all doctors and nurses till September 30 this year, besides making compulsory presence of doctors at their respective places of posting. Any doctor found absent in his/her place of posting will be slapped with immediate FIR with the police. These are apart from free-of-cost treatment and medicines for JE patients under treatment in ICUs in government hospitals, and one-time payment of Rs 1 lakh for ICU patients under treatment in private hospitals.

Disclosing all these stringent measures before the media on Saturday, State Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “Our thrust is now on 1,094 JE-affected villages. Precautionary measures are being taken on a war footing there. While the death toll has risen to 49, as many as 190 other patients have tested JE positive. To ensure uninterrupted treatment, we’ve cancelled the leaves of all doctors and nurses till September 30 this year. In the event of any emergency, the leave for any doctor or nurse will have to be granted by the deputy commissioners, instead of superintendents of the Health department.”

On the practice of doctors posted in rural areas opting to stay in urban places like Guwahati, Sarma said, “This practice has been done away with. Doctors have to remain present at their respective places of posting, round the clock. If there is any unauthorized absence of any doctor from his/her place of posting, it will be treated seriously amounting to criminal dereliction of duty, and immediately an FIR will be lodged against the doctor.”

On serious JE patients undergoing treatment in ICUs, Himanta Biswa Sarma said: “If such patients are in government medical colleges and government hospitals, they will be treated free of cost, besides giving them medicines free of charge. This is not all. If such patients come to the government hospitals on their own for not getting government ambulance services on time, they will be paid Rs 1,000 as transportation cost. If such patients are in ICUs of private hospitals or nursing homes, a one-time payment of Rs 1 lakh will be extended to each patient.”

On JE treatment, Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “The foremost measure is testing the blood sample at the initial stage. I appeal to all people complaining of fever or uneasiness to immediately have their blood samples tested. With such a purpose in view, we’ve provided ASHA and other village-level health workers with instant result blood-testing kits. So far, 12.8 lakh blood samples have been collected.”

The Minister said that all health officers and deputy commissioners have been asked to monitor the situation on a daily basis.

On vaccination, the Minister said: “It has come to light this time that children are less affected. This is because we’ve vaccinated around 80 per cent of the children. Upper Assam was badly affected earlier. However, this time the vector-borne disease is more severe in central and lower Assam districts. This is because adult vaccination was almost complete in the upper Assam. However, the drive suffered a setback in lower Assam following an unwanted rumour among a section of people. So, the occurrence of JE is high in central and lower Assam this time around. The resistance power in adult vaccination is not 100 per cent. A vaccinated adult may get around 68 per cent of resistance power to fight the vector-borne disease. Adult vaccination for JE is made in China only. We’ve taken up the matter with the Centre to take it up with the neighbouring country, and supply us with adult vaccine for JE.”

Also Read: Patients suffering from Japanese Encephalitis to avail special ICU support in Assam