Heatwave: States asked to step up surveillance

The Centre asks state governments to step up surveillance and take action to mitigate heat-related illnesses in the wake of heatwaves across the country.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has asked all chief secretaries of states and Union Territories to share daily surveillance reports on health-related illnesses that are shared with the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

States have been asked to disseminate the guideline document ‘National Action Plan on Heat Related Illnesses’ to all districts for effective management of cases of heatwave. From March 1, daily surveillance on heatrelated illnesses has started under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme in all states and districts.

“The daily heat alerts that are being shared by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) as well as the NCDC with states indicate forecasts of heatwaves for next three-four days and may be disseminated promptly at district health facility level,” the letter said.

The seasonal and monthly outlook from IMD for March-may 2022 predicts above normal maximum temperatures over many areas of the country and much higher temperatures in central, western, and northern parts of the country. Temperatures have already touched 46 degrees Celsius at some places and deviations up to 6 degrees Celsius from expected normal temperatures have also been reported.

The NCDC had sent a communication to all states in April regarding the need to escalate heat-resilience measures in health facilities. An inter-sectoral meeting on this subject was also chaired by member secretary, NDMA, in mid-april.