KL Report
SRINAGAR
Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) Monday alleged that health officials were responsible for six swine flu (H1N1) deaths in the valley which could have been prevented by pre-emptive measures.
In a statement to KNS President DAK Dr Nisar ul Hassan said, “Health officials should be booked for criminal negligence as they abdicated their moral and legal duty of protecting human lives. Center for disease control and prevention’s influenza division had warned states that this seasons flu could be “most severe than most” and health officials in valley slept over it and this act of omission is responsible for H1N1 deaths.”
“Health officials concealed H1N1 positive cases and did not disseminate information to public which resulted in spread of disease and deaths. Doctors were not informed about H1N1 cases with the result they were not considering this in the diagnosis and many patients might have died undiagnosed. Those who died of H1N1 were high risk and could have been saved by prior vaccination which has not been made available by health officials of the valley,” he said.
“Healthcare workers contracted disease because they were not vaccinated and they became a source of infection to patients. Public panic is because of lack of facilities in the valley to combat H1N1 outbreak who feel unsafe because of official apathy. These health officials because of their inaction would have been sacked at other places but in this part of the world perpetrators of crime are shielded,” Dr Hassan added.
He said DAK will file a public interest litigation in High Court on Tuesday seeking criminal prosecution of health officials whose renunciation towards their legal duty to combat H1N1 outbreak has led to loss of human lives.
