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'Standardise laboratory procedures for infectious diseases surveillance'

By Our Staff Reporter

PONDICHERRY, FEB. 14. The Director of Health and Family Welfare Services, Pondicherry, G.S. Reddy, today said medical microbiologists should standardise laboratory procedures for facile surveillance of infectious diseases.

Inaugurating a symposium on `Challenging frontiers in infectious disease surveillance' organised by the Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry chapter of the Indian Association of Medical Microbiologists (IAMM) at the Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences at Kalapet, near here, Dr. Reddy said the Centre had initiated a five-point programme to combat communicable diseases. The strategies included strengthening of government health services, environmental development and holding special programmes on hygiene.

There should be State-specific modalities in the delivery of health care system in keeping with the National Health policy of 2002.

Dr. Reddy said that every year newer infectious ailments such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and bird flu were occurring. Drug resistance had become a challenge. Hence, surveillance of infectious diseases had become a necessity now.

S. Badrinath, Medical Superintendent, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, (who is also a former president of the Indian Association of Medical Microbiologists), said infectious diseases were posing a problem in the primary health care of the people.

The Director-Principal of the Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, Abraham G Thomas, said there should be quality consciousness in disease surveillance efforts.

Nalini Ramamurthy, Deputy Director of the Virology Division, King Institute, Chennai, who is also the president of the IAMM (Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry chapter) said the Centre had formulated an `Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme' which would be implemented shortly. It envisaged establishment of State level projects on nine core diseases and five State-specific diseases.

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