To control the spread of swine flu in the country, which have result in six deaths, industry chamber Assocham today asked Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to permit reputed private hospitals and accredited charitable institutions to diagnose and treat suspected such patients.
The chamber said the government hospitals are over congested to tackle current outbreak of the disease.
"Established and credible laboratories in private sector including charitable centres are well equipped to diagnose and offer treatment for swine flu," Assocham President Sajjan Jindal said in a release.
Jindal said, since authorised health institutions in the government sector are limited in number to check blood samples of suspected and afflicted swine flu patients, credible health institutions in private sector be allowed to detect the flu and treat it.
Further, Assocham Health Committee Head, who is also Chairman of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, B K Rao said, "If the government is still reluctant to involve private health centres, such centres should at least be allowed to detect the flu and recommend suspected patients for treatment to hospitals authorised by the government."
Assocham said it is wrong to state that privately managed health centres do not have adequate isolated wards to offer effective treatment to swine flu patients.
More From This Section
"Isolated wards can be created in short notice to examine and provide effective treatment to the patients in private hospitals. Restricting treatment of swine flu only to handful of government hospitals would not serve the intended purpose," Jindal said.
It should be the collective responsibility of the government and private sector to effectively offer treatment to take on outbreak of swine flu, he added.
Meanwhile, Assocham also demanded creation of a cell on the lines of Disaster Management Cell to test the preparedness of the government to effectively handle and take on outbreak of any flu so that panic situation is contained before its spread.
Moreover, it suggested that doctors engaged in offering and examining patients of swine flu should be well equipped with masks to prevent them catch the virus as their supplies are not adequate and effective currently.