Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Dec 25: A two-member central team has arrived in Sambalpur, where jaundice has assumed alarming proportions, to take stock of the situation.
The visit follows a directive by Union health minister JP Nadda that a central team consisting of one member from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and one from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) immediately visit the state to assist the state government in containing the jaundice outbreak, sources said.
The team, which arrived Thursday, will visit the affected areas, meet field-level officers concerned and report on the epidemiological aspects of the outbreak.
It will assess the additional requirements to deal with the situation and suggest measures for prevention and containment. The ICMR director general has advised the Regional Medical Research Centre at Bhubaneswar to assist the state government.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has already visited the affected district along with Chief Secretary GC Pati to take stock of the situation. During his visit, the Chief Minister announced a Rs 160 crore package, which includes Rs 100 crore for an underground piped water supply project and Rs 60 crore for repair and renovation of three culverts in the city.
State health minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak and health secretary Arati Ahuja had also visited the affected areas to take stock of the situation as the spread of hepatitis (jaundice) claimed 17 lives and affected more than 1,300 people in the area.