As the persisting heatwave is gripping large parts of the country, the death cases due to heatstroke are mounting. Between March 1 and June 20 this year, there have been 143 recorded deaths and 41,789 people suffering from suspected heatstroke, Health ministry sources said on Friday.
The data however, compiled under the National Heat-Related Illness and Death Surveillance by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) does not have updated records from states indicating that the actual toll may be higher
Going by the official data, on June 20 itself there were 14 confirmed deaths due to heatstroke while nine people died due to suspected heatstroke, taking the death toll in the March-June period to 143 from 114. The worst affected is Uttar Pradesh which has reported 35 deaths so far, followed by Delhi (21) and Bihar and Rajasthan (17 each), according to the data.
Health Ministry issued advisory
Notably, the health ministry its latest advisory had directed all the states and UTs to prepare the record of deaths and people who reached hospitals with heat-related illnesses. The advisory asked state nodal officers under the National Programme for Climate Change and Human Health (NPCCHH) to start submitting data daily on heatstroke cases and deaths and total deaths from March 1 besides reporting under Heat-related Illness and death surveillance.
Union Health Minister J P Nadda on Thursday took a review meeting and asked officials to visit Central government hospitals till the heatwave conditions persist to keep a check if separate arrangements have been made for heat-affected patients. He also directed the officials to assess the number of deaths due to heatstroke over the last few days.
In its advisory centre has directed the hospitals to set up special units to cater to such patients. He also asked officials to make sure that all hospitals are ready to provide the best healthcare to heatstroke or heat-related patients.
(With PRI inputs)
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