First in Hry: City to set up unit for early warning, control of infectious diseases

GURGAON: In a first, Haryana is planning to set up a metropolitan surveillance unit (MSU) for the early warning and control of infectious diseases across the state.
This unit will be set up in the city's Sector 39 and will support the health department in strengthening disease surveillance under the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHM).

According to health officials, the MSU will help develop early warning systems and integrated entomological surveillance on the emerging trend of diseases. Also, a biosafety level 3 laboratory (where work is performed with agents that may cause serious or potentially lethal disease) will be set up in Rohtak. In this lab, study of infectious agents or toxins that may be transmitted through the air and cause potentially lethal infections will be conducted.
The MSU will have staff from the health department and MCG and will monitor cases of Zika, avian influenza and Covid-19 in the state. It will go to the areas where these cases are reported and carry out outbreak investigations and tests jointly with the local authorities to check infection spread. Officials said the establishment of the unit will help meet the demand of public health surveillance and strengthen outbreak investigation in the wake of emerging public health threats.
According to experts, this move is crucial because emerging infectious diseases can spread rapidly and gain momentum to become endemic. Antimicrobial-resistant infections can also quickly spread and are proven to be difficult, if not impossible to treat, they said.
A meeting was held between health department officials and a team from the Union ministry of health and family welfare’s integrated disease surveillance programme (IDSP) in the city on Monday. IDSP joint director Dr Himanshu Chauhan said the city is prone to disease outbreaks as it is crowded and part of NCR. There is a need for real-time monitoring and stringent surveillance measures to contain them, which the MSU is expected to meet, he said. He also sought a progress report on the project.
CMO Dr Virender Yadav said the health department has acquired a community centre in Sector 39 for this purpose. “The deputy commissioner has assured that the process of establishing the MSU will be expedited,” Yadav said.