Bengal govt not sharing dengue data with Centre: Union minister
Federal Health Minister Bharati Pravin Pawar said on Friday that the West Bengal government does not share information on dengue fever with the centre. Pawar, who visited Kolkata to attend the 16th Asian Conference on Diarrhea and Nutrition (ASCODD), said the center is always trying to guide the state in tackling vector-borne diseases.”Our portal receives feedback from all states, but West Bengal has not done any reporting on this despite our repeated requests. We have not received any information on how many dengue patients are there in West Bengal, and also on the number of deaths. This information must be shared with the Centre,” she said on the sidelines of the programme.
The Centre is always trying to direct all states to combat vector-borne diseases. Through you, I again request the state government to provide information on dengue fever as soon as possible. Without information, we cannot provide assistance,” she said.However, the West Bengal government pointed out a glitch on the center’s website, claiming it had been sharing information for months. The head of the state health department said, “We have heard the minister’s message. It is possible that the information has not been uploaded somewhere. However, even though we have been sharing information with the center since then, the site has been slow to update. We’ve been sending out information for months.”
West Bengal last released dengue-related data on 30 September, with 239 cases and zero deaths, according to the National Vector-borne Diseases and Control Center website.The state government has yet to release dengue-related data for this season. But official sources say more than 50 people have died and 52,000 have been infected since the outbreak began this season.The Minister also took action, arguing that the state cannot withhold its benefits from the people, citing the failure of the TMC government to implement the center’s Ayushman Bharat programme.
After the pandemic, we need to focus more on strengthening our healthcare infrastructure. In that regard, we have this Ayushman Bharat Yojana Digital Mission. I think the West Bengal government should consider implementing Ayushman Bharat Yojana. We cannot deprive people of the benefits of the program,” Pawar said.The West Bengal government withdrew him from the Ayushman Bharat program in 2019 on the grounds that in 2016 he had already started a similar program with Swasthya Sathi.Prime Minister Mamata Banerjee said the Swastiya Sati program covers the entire population, but not Ayushman Bharat.
