Gujurat could well claim to be on the top with its development model. But what comes off as a reflection of its shoddy health infrastructure is that the state registered the maximum deaths — 31 — due to swine flu this year.
Of the total of 89 people affected by swine flu across the state, 35 have died. The number of swine flu patients is next only to Karnataka, which registered 143 cases with a death toll of 11. Rajasthan is next to Gujarat with 22 deaths.
Since the swine flu disease first surfaced in the country in 2009, as many as 749 people have died in Gujarat with the highest number of deaths — 363 — reported in 2010- 2011.
A government doctor, requesting anonymity, said most of the patients who died were from rural areas. He conceded that a majority of the cases was due to delay in “ initial diagnosis”. Another state medico claimed it was wrong to attribute all the deaths to Gujarat since there were patients from Rajasthan as well as other neighbouring states. All attempts to reach Principal Health Secretary P. K. Taneja for comments proved futile.