Kathmandu,2 March 2015: Minister for Health and Population Khagaraj Adhikari has said the country has a stash of medicines to treat Swine Influenza H1N1 virus for one-and-a-half month.
“We have 7,500 tablets which will reach 10,000 in a few days,” the Minister said at an interaction held at the Reporters’ Club. “The World Health Organization has pledged to provide more. There will be no deficiency of medicines for treatment,” he added.
Stating that the government has already instructed the Ministry of Health and private hospitals to create ‘isolation wards’ to treat Swine Flu patients, Minister Adhikari said a five-bed isolation ward had already come into operation at the Patan Hospital.
The Minister further said Health Desks had been installed from Kankadbhitta in the East to Kanchanpur in the West with medical personnel while adding that the blood samples collected in 25 different locations across the country could be tested at National Public Health Laboratory and Patan Laboratory.
The Minister said there was no necessity to panic as the virus was not new to Nepal. “Last year the virus was detected on 300 people and this year it is only 43,” Adhikari said adding, “Mortality rate of the virus is only one per cent. The media has made the people aware which is a good thing. It is not necessary that a person with cold is suffering from Swine Flu.”
Referring to the woman who succumbed to Swine Flu on Sunday, the Minister said the virus had made rapid impact on her as her two kidneys were weak and that she had been a follow-up patient of pneumonia.
The Minister said the government was not short of budget to tackle the virus. He added that necessary budget could be transferred to the Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital at Teku.
Source:RSS
