Hyderabad, September 25: A Division Bench of the High Court, comprising Chief Justice A.R. Dave and Justice C.V. Nagarjuna Reddy, on Thursday, gave a series of directions to the government regarding the steps to be taken for tackling swine flu.
The court was dealing with a petition filed by the AP Medical Representatives Union seeking a direction to conduct mandatory screening of all passengers embarking from international flights in view of the growing incidence of swine flu.
The bench gave the following directions to the government:
Positioning of doctors at easily accessible places in all localities for screening patients suspected to be having swine flu; wide publicity through print and electronic media about the location and functioning of the centres; if the doctor, after clinical examination, suspects that a patient is suffering from swine flu, the patient should be immediately taken to the appropriate hospital for further treatment. Adequate number of vehicles and doctors should be provided at the places earmarked for the screening tests.
Noting that a sufficient number of ventilators were not available at the government hospitals, the bench said the government should immediately procure sufficient number of ventilators.
The bench said the government should do the needful to see that private hospitals extend full cooperation to the patients.
Listed for Oct. 5
Finally, the judges said that the government hospitals must be equipped with all facilities so that they do not have to refer the patients to another hospital. The case is listed for October 5 so as to know what further action has been taken by the government authorities to prevent spread of swine flu in the State.
—Agencies