West Bengal not sharing dengue data with Centre: Union Minister

Kolkata: Union Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar on Friday said that the West Bengal government has not been sharing any information on dengue with the Centre despite repeated requests.

Pawar, who was in Kolkata to participate in the 16th Asian Conference on Diarrhoeal Disease and Nutrition (ASCODD), said the Centre was constantly trying to guide the states in controlling the vector-borne disease.

"Our portal receives feedback from all states, but West Bengal has not done any reporting on this despite our repeated requests. We have not received any information on how many dengue patients are there in West Bengal, and also on the number of deaths. This information must be shared with the Centre," she said on the sidelines of the programme.

"The Centre is constantly trying to give direction to all the states in controlling the vector-borne disease. Through you, I will again request the state government to bring forth information on dengue at the earliest. Without information, providing help is not possible," she told reporters.

The West Bengal government, however, pointed to glitches in the Centre's website, claiming that it was sharing information for months.

When asked about the minister's statement, state Director of Health Services Siddhartha Niyogi, who was also present at the programme, said, "We have heard the minister's message. Maybe the information has not been uploaded in some places. But, even after the information is shared with the Centre, the website is updated late. We have been sending information for many months." According to the National Centre for Vector Borne Diseases and Control's website, West Bengal last provided dengue-related data on September 30, mentioning 239 cases and zero deaths.

The state government is yet to publish any dengue-related data this season. But, official sources claimed that over 50 people have died and 52,000 people infected since the beginning of the outbreak this season.

The minister also took on the TMC government for not implementing the Ayushman Bharat scheme of the Centre, maintaining that the state cannot deprive the people of its benefits.

"After the pandemic, we must concentrate on strengthening the health infrastructure more. In this regard, we have this Ayushman Bharat Yojana Digital Mission. I think the West Bengal government must consider implementing the Ayushman Bharat Yojana. It cannot deprive its people of the benefits of the scheme," Pawar said.

The West Bengal government pulled out of the Ayushman Bharat scheme in 2019, citing that it already launched a similar programme in 2016 -- Swasthya Sathi.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had then said that the Swasthya Sathi scheme covers the entire population but Ayushman Bharat does not.