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Developed Countries Must Do More to Check H1NI Influenza: India

India has said that the developed countries should act to contain and check the spread of H1N1 influeza as the majority of these cases are from developed world.

Using an international forum, Union Health Minister tried to drive home the point that 28 of the 30 cases in India had originated from the developed world.

Health secretary Naresh Dayal on Monday told the UN “high level forum on advancing global health in the face of crisis’” that developed countries should do their bit to contain and check the spread of the infection. At the same time, minister of state for health Dinesh Trivedi offered advise to the United States by asking it to screen passengers before they arrived in India.

Trivedi said, “US is the main source (of infection) as far as India is concerned. In Mexico, when people leave the airport, they are properly monitored and screened. Similarly, Americans should also provide some kind of screening at the point of departure.’”

Trivedi added that his senior minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had already requested the ministry of external affairs (MEA) to prevail upon the affected nations to start screening of passengers bound for India to cut down spread of the deadly virus.

“The MEA really needs to take up the case with these (affected) countries at the diplomatic level and I think perhaps they should take up the case suo motu,’” Trivedi said.

Meanwhile, health secretary Naresh Dayal while assuring the UN that the country had been able to prevent secondary spread of the disease, said, “We have so far 30 cases which have been laboratory confirmed. Out of these, 28 are those who came from infected countries in the West. I would like to say that the developed countries would do a great service to the developing countries if they could contain and check the spread of infection in their own countries. I would, therefore, urge them to take action to stop the spread of the infection.”

Dispelling fears of panic, the government has asked travellers to defer their plans of going abroad till the disease is brought under control globally.

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