Delhi government vigilant on mpox, says health minister

New Delhi: Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said on Friday that the city government was maintaining strict vigil on the mpox situation and closely monitoring developments. During a press conference, he said that they were carefully observing the actions taken by both the central and other state governments. "We are closely monitoring the situation. We are keeping a close watch on the actions taken by both the central and (other) state governments."

Earlier this week, the Delhi government directed the LNJP Hospital, GTB Hospital and the Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital to set up isolation rooms for the management of suspected and confirmed mpox cases while emphasising that no patients had been detected. The LNJP Hospital has been designated as the nodal facility while the other two are on standby.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in view of its prevalence and spread across many parts of Africa.

Meanwhile, Bharadwaj criticised Lt Governor VK Saxena for delay in staffing new and existing hospitals.

While the Delhi government is working on expanding infrastructure, including the construction of four new hospitals and the enhancement of facilities in 13 others, the failure to appoint doctors and paramedical staff has rendered these efforts incomplete, Bharadwaj said.

He pointed out that around 14,000 new beds were being added to Delhi's hospitals but these beds would be of little use without adequate staffing.

Bharadwaj also accused the Lieutenant Governor's Office of inaction and questioned why no meetings were held during the past two years to address the staffing issue.

The health minister further said that if the Lieutenant Governor's Office was unable to manage the responsibility, it should be handed over to the elected government, which would ensure the necessary appointments.

Reacting to Bharadwaj's allegations, Lieutenant Governor's Secretariat accused him of "lying" and "misleading" on the issue.

"The health department under him (Bharadwaj) and his predecessors never ever created the said approximately 37,000 posts or wrote to or asked the services department to make recruitment against them, despite having sanctioned the construction of hospitals way back in 2019," it said.

The posts are created by the department concerned in consultation with the administrative reforms, planning and finance departments, it added.

"All these are transferred subjects under the AAP government. After creation, they are sent to the services department for filling (of posts). Even the first step has not been taken till now, though these hospitals were to be completed within six months to a year," it said.

As far as the existing vacancies are concerned, the minister knows they are being filled and the process will be completed by December, the Lieutenant Governor's Secretariat further said.