Gujarat

The National

Bapunagar

Vijay Rupani

Shankar Chaudhary

Congress

Arjun Modhwadia

Narendra Modi

Aday after WHO confirmed three cases of Zika in Ahmedabad, the buzz is thatgovernment and the Centre may have hushed up the reports to ensure that Vibrant Gujarat Summit, attended by hundreds of foreign dignitaries, delegates and ambassadors, is not affected due to the scare. More than a 100 countries, 12 partner countries and 2,700 plus international delegates and nine Nobel laureates had attended the Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2017 that showcases the State as the ideal investment destination. In the past one year, the US, the UK, Australia, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Canada have issued travel advisories for those travelling to Zika prone countries.Institute of Virology, Pune, had confirmed that three persons from Ahmedabad were infected with Zika between January and February, 2017, and WHO reported the same on May 26. A former state government health official said on condition of anonymity, “The state government took the health of the public for granted. Even if there was no confirmation, a health alert should have been sounded. Detection can happen later. Normally this should have been done by the AMC but here the corporation itself was kept in the dark.”It may be recalled that a bird flu scare was also staved off and guinea fowls infected with flu secretly kept near an AMC garden were culled only after the event. Had the Zika reports come out then, it may have thrown a spanner in the works of the Gujarat government that has signed over 24,000 MoUs worth approximately Rs 30 lakh crore or more in the summits held till date. “Who knows there may have been several such cases that may have been swept under the carpet and only three of them reported. This is serious, especially coming at the time of Vibrant Gujarat where even foreign delegates can be affected. You are playing with the lives of people,” the former health official added.Amid an atmosphere of anxiety among citizens following detection of Zika virus in Ahmedabad, Gujarat government on Sunday said all the three cases were isolated and currently no such threat exists. Asked why the government had not announced the same at that time, Singh said it was not a secret, as the Union Health Ministry had already announced it during the last Parliament session in March. “While responding to a question in Parliament in March, Union Minister of State for Health had announced that three cases of Zika were found in Ahmedabad.This was also reported by some newspapers at that time. Thus, there was no secrecy from the government’s side,” claimed Singh. However, in March, Anupriya Patel had announced only one case of Zika in the parliament and not three as claimed by Singh. Singh claimed ample steps have been taken after the National Institute of Virology, Pune, confirmed that three persons from Ahmedabad were infected with Zika between January and February, 2017.Senior advocate Girish Patel said, “People have a right to know about health risks under Article 19 (1) (a) which is about freedom of speech and expression but under which the Right to Information has been framed. The government and AMC has always tried to conceal information about health risks and cases. This is serious and even a single case of Zika should have been promptly informed to the public to prevent it. But that is disregarded giving an excuse of creating a scare. This is a total failure of state government. In other countries, this would entail taking resignations from concerned.”He said this may have been done to ensure that the Vibrant Gujarat summit is not jeopardized. “There is nothing to worry about at present. Out of the three patients found to be infected with Zika, two were pregnant women while one was a 64-year-old man. All the three cases were isolated, and no new case was found since February, when the third and last case emerged,” Singh said. State authorities had sent blood samples of these three patients to NIV for final confirmation after the laboratory attached with B J Medical College in Ahmedabad found presence of Zika virus in primary screening of blood samples, he added.Among these, two pregnant women belonged toarea of the city while the elderly man was from western part of Ahmedabad, Singh said. According to him, the two women later gave birth to healthy children having no sign of Zika infection or any other deficiency due to the infection to their mothers. “After we came to know about these cases, health authorities had launched a massive drive in those areas during those months and collected thousands of sample from the patients who were having fever. However, not a single positive case was found,” said Singh.The state government insists that they had informed the Centre and left it to them to announce. State Health Commissioner J P Gupta said, “We informed the Centre and left it to them to make the necessary announcements. It is the Centre that informed WHO about Zika cases from Gujarat.” On Sunday, even Chief Ministerdownplayed the WHO report, assuring that the situation was under control and there is nothing to worry about. “Three cases of Zika virus were reported in January and February. No new case of Zika virus was reported after that. Situation in Gujarat is under control. There is no need to worry,” the CM said.Earlier, Gujarat Health Ministerasserted that there was no need to be worried as actions have been taken in accordance to the guidelines of World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Government of India. Chaudhary said that the Centre and the state government are fully ready to deal with any kind of epidemic, adding that the reported cases of Zika have also been cured and no new case has cropped up. “Health department of the Centre and the state is ready and equipped to combat any virus or epidemic. When cases of Zika virus were reported from Ahmedabad, we took action according to WHO protocol because of which the virus could not spread,” said Chaudhary.“The people who were diagnosed of the virus are now fit and have been cured. And no new case of Zika has been found in Gujarat, so I request all to not panic,” he added. Seniorleadersought an inquiry by a high court judge and action against persons responsible for hiding information on the presence of Zika virus in the State. “Not informing people at large about Zika and pushing it under a rug is criminal neglect. The health department deliberately kept information a secret during Vibrant Gujarat. While it would not have affected investments, the number of foreigners lavishing praise on Prime Ministerwould have certainly reduced. Even the AMC was not informed about it.”“Preventive measures including surveillance at all airports, railway stations, ports and bus stands should have been in place immediately but it was not done because of the summit. It is primarily the State’s responsibility and that of the Centre,” added Modhwadia. Former GPCC president Siddharth Patel said, “It is shameful and dangerous to hide such information during Vibrant Gujarat as it is a major health concern. Countries issue Zika advisories and this would have posed a health risk not only to foreigners visiting Ahmedabad and Gujarat but also to lakhs of people in the city.”