Lok Sabha Question No. 3441 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-17
Subject: AIIMS at Calicut
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: M. K. Raghavan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3441

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 17 th  DECEMBER 2021

## AIIMS AT CALICUT

## 3441. SHRI M. K. RAGHAVAN:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the  Government  is  considering  any proposal for establishment of AIIMS at Calicut;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  Government    has    maintained  any  scientific  data  regarding  the  frequent Nipah outbreaks in Calicut district;
- (d) if so, the details thereof;
- (e) if not, whether the Government plans to conduct any  scientific  study  to  stop  the  future occurrence  of such viral outbreaks and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) if so, the details of the study and findings therein ?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## (DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR)

(a)  &  (b) Pradhan  Mantri  Swasthya  Suraksha  Yojana  (PMSSY)  aims  to  establish  All  India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in all the States in the Country in a phased manner. Apart from 22 new AIIMS, which have been sanctioned under PMSSY since its inception, proposals for setting up AIIMS at other places have also been received.  AIIMS are set up in various parts of the country keeping in view gaps in tertiary healthcare infrastructure in different parts of the country.

(c)  & (d) The diagnosis of all presumptive positive cases of Nipah virus disease is confirmed only after repeating the test at ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. Therefore, a linelist of positive cases is maintained at ICMR-NIV as well as the state government of Kerala. Data related to signs and symptoms, antigen and antibody positivity and outcome of patients is available. In addition, studies related to positivity of Nipah virus infection in bats in regions from where cases are reported, studies to determine the risk factors for acquisition of disease as well as serosurveys in primary and secondary contacts of Nipah cases have been conducted by ICMRNIV  and  National  Institute  of  Epidemiology  (NIE),  Chennai  to  understand  the  proportion  of asymptomatic infections. Results of these studies have been pivotal in guiding the public health policies.

(e) & (f) ICMR has taken the following steps to enable early detection of Nipah virus disease cases in Kerala:

-  ICMR  recently  worked  with  the  Govt.  of  Kerala  to  modify  the  algorithm  of  surveillance  of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in Kerala to make the surveillance platform sensitive for early detection of cases of Nipah virus disease.

- Periodic surveys of bats in Kerala and other high risk states of India to estimate the antigen and antibody positivity for Nipah virus are conducted by ICMR-NIV, Pune.

-  ICMR-NIV  validated  the  point-of-care  TrueNat  test  for  Nipah  and  the  test  has  now  been accorded emergency use authorization by CDSCO. This has enabled on-site testing for Nipah even  at  district  hospitals  in  Kerala  where  TrueNat  machines  are  installed  either  for  TB  or COVID-19.

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