New Delhi: The Centre has requested the chief secretaries of all states to track and monitor the health of passengers arriving from west African countries affected by Ebola and strengthen hospital facilities for isolating patients.
The passenger-monitoring programme will be part of a tracking plan the Union health ministry had announced last week amid concerns that infected travellers from the four Ebola-affected countries — Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria — might carry the virus into India.
More than 1,000 patients, among more than 1,800 infected with the Ebola virus in the four countries, have so far died from the infection since early this year. While no case has surfaced in India yet, the health ministry and other government agencies are trying to strengthen preparedness to detect and manage patients infected with Ebola.
The health ministry has announced plans to train immigration officers at India’s airports and advise crew of international airlines about how to manage patients with symptoms on board before the aircraft lands in India. The ministry has said passengers from the affected countries should be tracked for up to 28 days as the gestation period of the Ebola virus can be up to 21 days.
The Union cabinet, secretary who called a meeting today with the health, civil aviation, home, and information and broadcasting secretaries to review the government’s preparedness for Ebola, has suggested a mechanism for systematic, easy and effective sharing of information between the different ministries on passengers travelling to India from the affected countries.
12/08/14 The Telegraph
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The passenger-monitoring programme will be part of a tracking plan the Union health ministry had announced last week amid concerns that infected travellers from the four Ebola-affected countries — Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria — might carry the virus into India.
More than 1,000 patients, among more than 1,800 infected with the Ebola virus in the four countries, have so far died from the infection since early this year. While no case has surfaced in India yet, the health ministry and other government agencies are trying to strengthen preparedness to detect and manage patients infected with Ebola.
The health ministry has announced plans to train immigration officers at India’s airports and advise crew of international airlines about how to manage patients with symptoms on board before the aircraft lands in India. The ministry has said passengers from the affected countries should be tracked for up to 28 days as the gestation period of the Ebola virus can be up to 21 days.
The Union cabinet, secretary who called a meeting today with the health, civil aviation, home, and information and broadcasting secretaries to review the government’s preparedness for Ebola, has suggested a mechanism for systematic, easy and effective sharing of information between the different ministries on passengers travelling to India from the affected countries.
12/08/14 The Telegraph
