Effective disaster response and management is a collaborative work. With coordinated actions between Centre and states, we can surely ensure there are no deaths due to heat waves, said Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare as he chaired a meeting to review public health preparedness for management of heat related illness and virtually interacted with State Health Ministers, State Disaster Management Ministers and Principal Secretaries/ Additional Chief Secretaries and Information Commissioners of seven States (Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana) which are experiencing severe heat wave conditions. Shri Nityanand Rai, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs was present at the meeting, while Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prof. S P Baghel, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare and Dr. V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog were present in the virtual mode. 

State Ministers who joined the high level review meeting included Shahnawaz, Disaster Management Minister (Bihar), Banna Gupta, Health & Disaster Management Minister (Jharkhand), Pramila Mallik, Revenue & Disaster Management Minister (Orissa), Harish Rao, Health Minister (Telangana), Anup Valmiki, Disaster Management Minister (Uttar Pradesh) and Mayaneshwar Singh, Minister of State for Health (Uttar Pradesh).The State Health and Disaster Management Ministers thanked the Union Health Minister for the timely review meting and his continuous support to the states.

Mandaviya said that “India has demonstrated during the recent preparedness measures for Cyclone Biparjoy that timely and effective coordination between Centre and States can produce the desired outcome”. “Sharing of ideas, expertise and best practices by states help in enriching everyone in effectively managing heat-related illness”, he added. He urged the states to implement the State Action Plans at the ground levels with a timely warning to the people, & ensure preventive preparedness to reduce the severe impact of heatwaves.  He also advised the States that have not yet prepared the Health Action Plan, based on the National Action Plan, to do so urgently detailing specific field level actions and ensure effective implementation of the same.

Mandaviya stated heat alert and forecasts from IMD is amplified and shared with all states daily by the Union Health Ministry. He urged states to develop training manuals on Heat and Health for State Officials, Medical Officers and Health Workers. “State-level trainers need to ensure that their training is up to field level. Capacity Building of Medical Officers, Health Staff & sensitization of grassroots level workers on heat illness, with focus on early recognition and management using training manuals provided by Union Health Ministry is crucial”, he stated. States were advised to increase resiliency to extreme heat at Health Facilities level by ensuring uninterrupted electricity supply; installation of solar panels and adopting measures to reduce indoor heat through installation of cool/green roof, window shading, shades etc.