570 teams distributing medicines in West Maharashtra

Mumbai: While post-flood relief operations are in full swing in Western Maharashtra, the health department has dispatched 570 medical teams to distribute diabetes and hypertension medicines, among other drugs, to victims.

State health secretary Dr Pradeep Vyas said that instructions had been issued to health posts to buy medicines locally if stocks run out in government centres. Health workers are also issuing advisories to flood-affected families to use chlorine tablets that are being freely distributed in drinking water, he said.

As lakhs of people have been evacuated from their homes, the authorities fear that victims who were on medication could have been affected. Now, health workers are identifying patients and providing them with their daily doses of medication. Counselling for post-flood trauma is also in being provided.

Dr Vyas said, “Our teams have gone to all flood-affected places. When we carrying out routine medical check-ups, we realised that there were a lot of people who needed to take daily medication for diabetes and hypertension. We immediately sent the required stocks of medicines for such ailments along with other necessary medicines.”

The administration is also taking steps to stop the outbreak of malaria in the aftermath of the floods. A specialist team has been roped in to detect  vector-borne diseases and closely monitor the condition of children, senior citizen and people in high-risk groups.