Guidelines issued to the State Government to control the spread of “Swine flu”

Allahabad High Court: Speaking on the unsatisfactory state of affairs  relating to prevention and medical treatment available for “Swine Flu” which has gripped the State of Uttar Pradesh and there is constant increase in number of affected patients since then, the division bench of Imtiyaz Murtaza and Ritu Raj Awasthi JJ. issued directions to the State Government

1.  To increase the facility of pathological test required for detecting swine flu in the Government pathologies as well as in ISO certified and National Accreditation Board for  Hospitals & Healthcare accredited pathologies and to ensure that pathological reports are made available within 24 hours of receiving the sample.
2. To procure the required quantity of medicine such as “tamiflu” from pharmaceutical companies.
3. To ensure the availability of sufficient number of mask in all public places such as hospitals, railway stations, airports, cinema halls, schools and colleges and all public crowded places by opening sufficient number of counters at a reasonable prices and shall not be black marketed.
4.  To provide separate wards and cubical where patients suffering from swine flu can be admitted and treated and also medical staff engaged in the treatment of the patients shall also be provided adequate safeguard.

In the instant case, where the counsel for petitioner, Nutan Thakur contented that State Government and authorities concerned failed to take adequate steps to curb epidemic swine flu which has spread throughout the State on the other hand the counsel for the respondents Bulbul Godiya submits that State Government is taking all possible effective steps for prevention and control of swine flu by undertaking awareness programme through newspapers, television, radio to inform people about the sanitization and prevention of the said disease and further informed the Court that pathological test to detect the swine flu is made at King George Medical University and Sanjay Gandhi Post graduate Institute of Medical Sciences at Lucknow

The Court also instructed the district administration to make responsible the management of school and colleges for not taking adequate arrangements for sanitization to control the spread of the disease and to ensure the proper treatment of the students residing in the hostels of schools and colleges. Tripuresh Tripathi v. Sate of U.P., 2015 SCC OnLine All 173, decided on 25.02.2015