Assam floods: J.P. Nadda assures all help in tackling likely disease outbreak
Union health minister J.P. Nadda has assured all help to the Assam government in dealing with the flood situation
New Delhi: The Union ministry of health and family welfare is keeping a strict vigil on diseases that may occur in Assam, which is grappling with floods.
Union health minister J.P. Nadda has assured all help to the Assam government in dealing with the flood situation and has directed the officials in his ministry to stay in touch with Assam’s health department.
“Asked officials of @MoHFW_INDIA to be in touch with health officials of Assam. We are with our brothers & sisters of Assam in this situation," Nadda tweeted.
Nadda also spoke to Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal to enquire about the flood situation in the state.
“We have alerted our Emergency Medical Response (EMR) Team . As the flood situation is really bad in the State, we are in constant touch with State Health department. We have asked them to immediately inform us in case of any disease situation arising out of the floods," said Dr Jagdish Prasad, Director General of Health Services (DGHS), ministry of health and family welfare. “If required, we may look at options of sending medicines and doctors from Delhi. The floods have certainly raised fears of an outbreak of water-borne diseases," he said.
The common disease situations that can arise following floods are Japanese encephalitis and cholera.
The flood situation in Assam is worsening with five more deaths reported on Wednesday. The floods have affected 17.2 lakh people in 24 districts. The mighty Brahmaputra river and its tributaries have submerged 2,500 villages, destroyed 1.06 lakh hectares of crop land, damaged infrastructure by breaching the embankments and overrunning roads and bridges, thereby disrupting surface communication, said the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).
Five more deaths took the toll to 44. One death each was reported from Majuli, Sivasagar, Dhemaji, Golaghat and Nagaon districts, ASDMA said
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