Do the state health officials have all the required knowledge about SARS — how dangerous it is, how it spreads etc? Or are they totally dependent on the information released by the World Health Organisation?Anil Shantaram GudekarHealth officials have adequate knowledge pertaining to the treatment strategy of this disease. Entities like the WHO and the Atlanta-based Centre for Disease Control are regularly updating the information on SARS. We collect this information and dissiminate it among the health officials.For someone with a low immune system, what are the dangers of contracting SARS on visiting the Mumbai airport or the cities of Mumbai and Pune?Babu PatelThe chances of contracting SARS even for persons having low immunity are negligible.Why did your government reveal the names of SARS patients, not considering the trauma they must have gone through in public? Has the government apprised the hundreds of general practitioners on how to deal with the disease?Ganesh GhoneNames of the patients were not intentionally published. The government later rectified the media-briefing policy and no names were disclosed. That was done as we realised that the patients were going through mental trauma due to publicity of their names.According to the WHO, there were no SARS cases in India. It also said the Indians were not being affected by the SARS due to the immunity they have because of the diseases prevailing here. Will this immunity still be effective, if a number of passengers are coming everyday from SARS-affected countries?Megha DeshpandeAs a precautionary measure, government officials had a high suspicion indicator and therefore, patients were identified, admitted, investigated, treated and the report sent to the Government of India. The latter then declared its stand after consultation with the WHO. It is difficult to comment how long this situation may prevail. The picture will be clearer soon.Are our laboratories well equipped to conduct tests for SARS? There were reports that the laboratories just conducted a simple test and declared patients SARS positive. Is this true? What are you doing to overcome this problem?Atul TembeAt the State Government level, there are no labs to carry out virological studies. However, the National Institute of Virology, a renowned institution of ICMR, has this capability and their tests are most reliable. The state government is planning to start virological studies at a few institutions.Are there mobile healthcare clinics in Maharashtra? If not, do you propose to start them?Ananth BhatThere are mobile health units functioning in tribal and geographically difficult areas. A few units are established with the help of motor launch services for the rural population residing in the backwaters of irrigation dams. The idea of a mobile van clinic is good and the government will think over it.Forget SARS, there are other equally important aspects of healthcare. What is the state government’s rural healthcare policy? How many hospitals have been set up in these areas since you took over? What initiatives have been taken to attract the younger generation to healthcare services and jobs?Ajit A. BhaleThe state has a sound rural healthcare infrastructure. We have one sub-centre for every 5,000 population, a primary health clinic for a population of 35,000 and a rural hospital for every 10,000 citizens. With this infrastructure, preventive and curative services are provided to the rural population. For tribal areas, the respective norm for sub-centres is 3,500, PHCs 25,000 and rural hospitals for each four PHCs. Besides, 41 rural hospitals and 233 PHCs have been set up since I took over in 1999.Besides SARS, there are other equally infectious diseases in the state. Are you devoting enough time and resources on containing these?Ramesh LahotiWe are well aware of equally deadly diseases like tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS. SARS, being acute and a new entity, maximum attention was diverted. However, the above mentioned diseases are on our regular agenda and measures are being taken to contain them. A special programme named Integrated Disease Surveillance programme, for prevention and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases, is going to be launched this year. Under the programme, a special strategy will be followed for priority diseases of the state.
