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Title : Need to take immediate steps to control spread of Swine-flu in the Country.
*SHRI P.R. NATARAJAN (COMBATORE): [r2] Madam Speaker, the pandemic Swine Flu is that spreading fast across the globe has not spared our country either. In the first week of June this year four people who came from the US to Coimbatore in my constituency were affected by Swine Flu virus. Regarding this, as early as on 5.6.2009, I had written to Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Shri Gulam Nabi Azad. But I have not got any reply and I do not know whether any action has been taken. Without delaying any further Union Government must take in to confidence and inform this House about the steps taken. Testing centres and lab facilities must be established in all the states. In Coimbatore, testing facilities are not there and the samples are to be sent to Pune or Delhi. Of the 1506 people tested for H1 N1 virus, in the case of 285 people, Swine Flu tests have proved positive or symptoms have been found. Treatment
*English translation of the speech originally delivered in Tamil.
for such people is being given in several parts of the country like Delhi, Pune, Cochin, Tiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Goa. According to WHO, 63,761 people all over the world have been affected by Swine Flu of which 64 are Indians. Of the 288 people who have succumbed to Swine Flu, one is reported to be an Indian. Hence, I urge upon the Government to take measure on a war footing as precautionary arrangements are not available in all the airports of the country. All the passengers from all the airports must be subjected to medical tests. Innoculation and medicines both preventive and curative must be widely available. There should not be any further delay. Urging upon the Government to take all possible efforts to wipe out Swine Flu, let me conclude.