Health department yet to fully wake up to swine flu scourge

Health department yet to fully wake up to swine flu scourge
TNN

PANAJI: A nine-year-old girl from Sharjah, UAE, who had arrived in Goa on Saturday to attend her cousin's birthday celebrations, was admitted to the isolation ward of Goa Medical College and hospital at Bambolim as she was suspected to have contracted the swine flu virus.

But, shockingly, she was shifted from the Dabolim airport to GMC in an ambulance that is used to ferry critically ill patients and accident victims.

This incident has highlighted the fact that despite six confirmed cases of swine flu in Goa, there is not a single ambulance allotted for the use of swine flu patients. What's even worse, is that there is no sanitization of the vehicle done after it is used for moving swine flu patients, said health officials.

The health officials pointed out that this is in contravention of the central government's swine flu clinical management protocol and infection control guidelines, which clearly state that the once a patient is admitted to a hospital, the interior and exterior of the ambulance and reusable patient care equipment needs to be sanitized using sodium hypochlorite/quaternary ammonium compounds.

Incidentally, last week, the health department's nodal officer for swine flu, Dr Rajendra Tamba, had written to the chief minister asking to be relieved of his duties. He had reportedly alleged in the letter that the state health authorities were not cooperating with him and not doing enough for quarantined patients.

It is also reliably learnt that in the letter Dr Tamba also mentioned that despite asking for one dedicated ambulance to shift swine flu patients, everytime a new driver was being exposed to the deadly disease. But, even a week later, nothing has changed.

Although World Health Organisation (WHO) states that there should be a separate doctor and nurse for a quarantine ward, in Chicalim the duty nurse and doctor
continue to take care of swine flu patients and also those suffering from other ailments. Sources said that even one and a half months after the first swine flu case was detected, there are still no pillows for patients at Chicalim Cottage Hospital.

When contacted, Dr Tamba said, "The health secretary has been really supportive and he has promised to improve the situation at the earliest." Health secretary Sanjay Kumar Srivastava, who is also the chief secretary, told TOI that the "government is looking into the issue and it will be sorted out soon".

Health authorities also reveal that there has been not a single continuing medical education (CME) programme on swine flu organized for government doctors and support staff.

"Due to this, doctors don't know when a patient has to be treated as a suspected case or where to send them and precautions that need to be taken to ensure that a patient doesn't spread the virus," said a senior government doctor.

Take the case of a middle aged British tourist who went to a health centre in North Goa with severe cough on Saturday morning. The doctor on duty asked her to go to GMC's pathology department to check for swine flu.

From the pathology department, she was sent to medicine department and then to the hospital's casualty ward, where they did not know whether or not to send her to the swine flu isolation ward.

However, the British tourist was later quietly discharged after the GMC doctors found that the woman, who had arrived in the state a month ago, had been suffering from cough and cold since the last few months.

26 July 2009,The Times of India, Goa edition