2024-08-18 16:50:23
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Sunday directed secretaries and senior officials of departments to intensify surveillance of monkeypox or monkeypox disease and take effective measures to detect cases promptly.
The instructions came from the Prime Minister’s principal secretary PK Mishra, who chaired a high-level meeting to review the monkeypox response.
The meeting was chaired by Mishra on the advice of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The high-level meeting informed that so far, no cases of MPOX have been reported in the country. Based on the current assessment, the risk of a large-scale outbreak and sustained transmission is low.
In the meeting, Mishra also directed that the network of testing laboratories should be prepared for early diagnosis. Currently, 32 laboratories have been equipped with testing equipment.
He directed that protocols for prevention and treatment of the disease be disseminated on a large scale.
Mishra further stressed that an awareness campaign should be conducted among healthcare providers to increase their awareness about the signs and symptoms of the disease and to inform the surveillance system promptly.
The high-level meeting was attended by ministers and senior officials from various departments including health, home affairs, health research and disaster management.
An official press release issued after the review meeting said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will continue to monitor the sheep pox outbreak in view of the fact that the World Health Organization has declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
Mishra learned that MPOX infections usually resolve on their own over a period of 2 to 4 weeks; MPOX patients usually recover with supportive medical care and management.
Transmission of vaccinia occurs through prolonged close contact with infected patients. It occurs mainly through the sexual route, direct contact with the patient’s body fluids/lesion fluids or through contaminated clothing/bed linens of an infected person.
Measures taken
Health Minister Apurva Chandra outlined the measures that have been taken over the past week. These include the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) convening a meeting of experts on August 12, 2024 to assess the risk in India; the Communicable Disease (CD) alert issued earlier by the NCDC on Mpox is being updated to capture the latest developments; and health teams at international airports (ports of entry) have been sensitized.
It is also learnt that the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) held a video conference on Sunday morning, which was attended by more than 200 people. State-level health authorities such as the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) units at the states and entry ports were sensitized about it.
You may remember that in view of the prevalence of Mpox and its spread in many parts of Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) once again declared Mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on August 14, 2024.
According to an earlier statement from the World Health Organization, a total of 99,176 cases of Mpox have been reported in 116 countries around the world since 2022, including 208 deaths.
Subsequently, they reported that cases of Mpox have been steadily increasing in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Last year, there was a significant increase in reported cases, and the number of cases reported so far this year has surpassed last year’s total, with more than 15,600 cases and 537 deaths. India has reported 30 cases since the WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern in 2022. The last Mpox case was detected in March 2024.
1724002473
#Prime #Ministers #Office #ordered #increased #monitoring #MPox #urged #testing #laboratories #remain #vigilant
