2,000 suffer food poisoning after meal at religious event in Nanded
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Feb 7: Nearly 2,000 people suffered from food poisoning after consuming food at a religious event held at a village in Maharashtra's Nanded district, an official said on Wednesday.
A religious discourse was held in Koshtwadi village under Loha tehsil on Tuesday where locals and people from nearby Sawargaon, Postwadi, Risangaon and Maski villages gathered and consumed food at around 5 pm.
The people started complaining of vomiting and loose motions in the wee hours of Wednesday, the official said.
Initially, 150 people facing these health issues were admitted to the sub-district hospital at Loha in Nanded.
But later, more people faced similar issues following which 870 patients were admitted to various other health facilities including the Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College, the official said.
More beds have also been arranged at the Government Ayurvedic hospital of Nanded in case of a requirement.
Samples of the patients were taken for an investigation, the official said.
Five teams were deployed for a survey in the affected villages. A rapid response team has also been formed to investigate the matter, the official said.
No life loss has occurred in the incident and the patients admitted at various facilities are stable, he said, adding that a process has begun to discharge the patients after treatment.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
