The government today said 240 doctors and paramedic staff would be available round the clock at the Commonwealth Games village to tackle any medical emergency or outbreak of disease during the mega sporting event.
"Adequate arrangements have been made by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Delhi Government. A poly clinic with all provisions like ultra sound, laboratory and imaging would be set up to provide medical facilities to all participants," Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told the Lok Sabha.
General physicians, surgeons, dentists, physiotherapists, dieticians and other trained practitioners would be available at the Out Patient Department (OPD) to be set up at the Games village, he said during Question Hour.
Similarly, at every venue a medical centre would be set up.
As Azad spoke, several members created uproar apparently over delay in preparation for the Games but nothing could be heard in the din.
At the non-competitive venues like media centre at Pragati Maidan and three designated hotels -- Ashoka, Samrat and Janpath -- doctors and nurses would be available.
J P Aggarwal (Cong) wanted to know whether arrangements have been made to tackle any outbreak of disease like Dengue, Swine Flu and whether a disaster management team has been prepared in case of situations like stampede.
To this, Azad said 35 venues/hospitals have been identified and they would be asked to remain alert to meet any emergency or accident.
A helpline number (1075) will be available for people to inform about any emergency or outbreak of disease. National Centre for Disease Control has been trained to handle any such emergency.
There are concerns among the civic agencies about spread of dengue this season around the time of the Games in October, a month which witnesses high prevalence of the vector-borne disease.
Since dengue is a viral illness with cyclical trend of increase in cases after every three-four years which coincides with the Games this year, civic agencies have felt an urgent need to take adequate precautions against dengue.
Azad said steps have also been taken to prevent water, food and vector borne diseases through monitoring of water quality, food testing and vector surveillance.
He also informed that vaccination for H1N1 swine flu has been produced indigenously and it would be available for use before any outbreak of the epidemic.
In all, up to Rs seven crore would be spent for making health related arrangements for the Games. About 70 per cent work on it has been done and the rest would be completed in the next few days, he added.
