State government alert to monkeypox: Health Minister Keshab Mahanta

 Swasthya Manthan-2 launched

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Health Minister Keshab Mahanta said that the State Government was fully alert to monkeypox and acting as per the guidelines issued by the Central Government.

Talking to the media today, Mahanta said, "The Government of India has issued some guidelines on monkeypox for us to follow. Monkeypox claimed one life in India recently. We are fully alert. Though scanning at the airport is yet to start, we will start the practice soon if the situation demands and the Centre issues guidelines for that."

The minister also said that apart from the medical colleges in the state, the department had already asked the district civil hospitals to treat Japanese Encephalitis (JE) patients. "JE claimed 52 lives till today in the state in this season. And the number of JE-positive cases in the state is 315. We are trying to detect the vector-borne disease at the initial stage," he said.

On the recruitment front, the minister said that the department would hold the written test for fourth-grade posts on September 4, and for third-grade posts in September-end or October.

Meanwhile, the minister launched Swasthya Manthan-2, a two-day workshop-cum-review of State Maternal and Newborn Health Services, at Assam Administrative Staff College today. NHM, Assam organized the workshop with support from World Health Organization (WHO) and WISH Foundation. He also launched a portal on Maternal and Prenatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPCDSR).

Present in the meeting, among others, were Principal Secretary of Health Avinash Joshi, NHM Mission Director MS Lakshmi Priya and representatives of WHO and WISH Foundation.

The minister said at the meeting that the state witnessed a fall in the infant mortality rate in the past six months. "After the independence of India, for the first time, the infant mortality rate in Assam is below the national average this year. Not a single infant died in July in 15 districts of the state," he said. He appealed to the medical fraternity to bring down infant and maternal mortality rates further in the state.

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