Health Of Healthcare: Is Gujarat’s Infra Ready?

Ahmedabad: Gujarat had not recorded any positive COVID-19 case till Wednesday, but over the next two days it has reported seven cases, leapfrogging the figures of several Indian states. While 34 cases still await test results, 65 persons are already in quarantine. In all, 63 persons were quarantined after being ferried directly from international airports across Gujarat on Thursday and Friday alone. In the face of the exponential rise in cases and affected persons, the big question is if the state has enough quarantine and treatment facilities.
Gujarat health department officials said that 5,695 beds at 127 facilities have been created only for quarantine.

For the positive cases, as on Friday, the state has 572 beds and 204 ventilators in isolation wards at public hospitals and medical colleges. Moreover, 635 beds have been identified in 127 private hospitals in the state. In Ahmedabad, 100 beds have been set aside at GMERS College in Sola, 40 beds at the sub-district hospital in Singarva, 60 beds at Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management, and 50 beds at the Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar. Over the past fortnight, about 5,000 doctors and health professionals from government and private set-ups have been trained to identify and treat COVID-19.

Jayanti Ravi, the state’s principal secretary (health & family welfare), said on Friday that Gujarat has the capacity for 2,000 screenings for COVID-19 infections. “We have applied for four new labs. A in-principle nod has been received from the ICMR for labs in Bhavnagar and Surat,” she said. The state has two labs at present — in Ahmedabad and Jamnagar.

Prof Rajesh Chandwani, the chairperson of the Centre for Management of Health Services at IIM-Ahmedabad, said that fortunately India has not been hit by an epidemic like a few other countries have. “We are still to understand COVID-19 in Indian conditions,” he said. “But what we know from the experience abroad is that the majority of those who died had other health complications. Surely we need to assess the current infrastructure and prepare more quarantine facilities.”

It’s also important to leverage the student strength at medical colleges, said Prof Deepak Saxena, an infectious diseases expert at IIPH-Gandhinagar. “With more cases coming to light, contact tracing should be taken with the utmost seriousness to contain cases,” he said. “The government is trying its best and we should support it. Why can’t we engage departments such as community medicine at medical colleges for the task?”

–Times Of India