As Cyclone Fani hits the land in Odisha, Union health ministry sets into motion elaborate response arrangements to deal with all contingencies
With a 24 hour helpline, ten public health rapid response teams and five quick response medical teams on standby, Union health ministry has put in place a full-scale response plan for Cyclone Fani. It has also issued an advisory for Odisha.
Pushing all stakeholders into action, the Central government health scheme has also identified 20 medical officers and 10 pharmacists in the eastern states where two deaths have already been reported for the cyclone that is said to be one of the nine worst in the last 52 years.The cyclone blew off a portion of the Bhubaneswar railway station roof and also hit the AIIMS in the city hard though no patients were affected.
“All patients at AIIMS Bhubaneshwar are safe. It is in readiness to support the State for accepting more patients. Damages caused by Fani shall be repaired soon. Central govt is in all readiness to support Odisha state for Fani Cyclone”
Health secretary Preeti Sudan said: “All patients at AIIMS Bhubaneshwar are safe. It is in readiness to support the State for accepting more patients. Damages caused by Fani shall be repaired soon. Central govt is in all readiness to support #Odisha state for #FaniCyclone. Medical teams and public health teams in readiness to support state as per need. Emergency medicines are being provided to state on request. Do not listen to rumors; call the helpline number for any information.” The ministry has set up a 24*7 Helpline number for #FaniCyclone information, assistance & support. It is: 011-23061302/23063205/ 23061469 (fax). Ms. Preeti Sudan, Secy (HFW): donot listen to rumors; call the helpline number for any information.
HLL Lifecare has already identified vendors who have ready and sufficient stocks of essential life saving medicines that can be requisitioned by Odisha government at short notice. The public health response teams have one epidemiologist, one microbiologist and one entomologist each to deal with any health outbreaks in the aftermath of the devastation.
Sudan added that hospital services have been kept equipped to deal with any kind of emergency including injuries because of the cyclone.
Videos of the wrath of the cyclone have been all over the social media since the cyclone’s landfall this afternoon. The real challenge in such cases is not just to contain immediate damage but ensure that there are no public health outbreaks at a later stage.
