the Indian Medical Association (IMA) strongly feels that testing for the disease should not be the prerogative of the government-run National Institute of Virology (NIV) alone.
With time being a premium in saving lives of those affected by swine flu, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) strongly feels that testing for the disease should not be the prerogative of the government-run National Institute of Virology (NIV) alone. Private laboratories should also be roped in for speedy testing and reduce the burden on NIV.
Save time
Two people have died in the city after testing positive for H1N1 virus. Reeda Shaikh a 14-year-old student of St Anne's Schoolu00a0died on August 3 and Sanjay Kokre a teacher from Daund died on August 8. He had visited state education director's office in the city on July 30 and 31.
In both cases, no definite close contact with a positive patient has been established so far. And neither of them had returned from abroad. Experts believe that by the time the test results were out, vital time for the treatment was already lost.
Let them do it
Dr Dilip Sarda, president, IMA, said, "If NIV is ready to share the knowledge and conduct a workshop to train staff of private labs, many laboratories in Pune will be willing to conduct the swab tests."
Stating that the process needs to be decentralised, Dr Sarda said, "After the PMC opened 15 pre-screening centres in Pune, the load on
Dr Naidu Hospital and Aundh Civil Hospital has been reduced to some extent."
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