Health officers told to step up measures to curb disease outbreak
:
Health officers can exercise their supervisory and enforcement responsibility to uphold public health standards during public gatherings to prevent disease outbreaks. In case of a public health emergency, District Magistrates and health officers are authorised under Section 75 of Tamil Nadu Public Health Act 1939 to issue orders prohibiting assemblies or restricting movement to contain the spread of disease.
This comes in the wake of increasing frequency and magnitude of public gatherings across the State. This includes religious congregations, social and cultural events, recreational programmes, and political meetings. It is imperative to enforce public health safeguards to prevent disease outbreaks, ensure sanitation, and protect public safety, the Directorate of Public Health (DPH) and Preventive Medicine said.
The directorate said the primary responsibility for ensuring essential services such as water supply, waste disposal, and sanitation rests with the event organisers.
It further said that the local authority was empowered to supervise, inspect, and enforce public health measures to ensure all necessary arrangements were in place to prevent potential outbreaks.
The district, city, and municipal health officers should supervise, inspect, and enforce public health arrangements made by the organisers. Adequate sanitary facilities should be arranged. All food stalls should be inspected in coordination with the Food Safety Department. Water sources should be inspected and samples sent for testing at the Regional Water Laboratory or District Public Health Laboratory.
They should establish surveillance mechanisms to detect clustering of cases or suspected outbreaks. In regions with outbreaks of notified diseases, public gatherings should be regulated. Events may be restricted or postponed if public health is at risk. All suspected cases of infectious diseases should be promptly identified and managed..
Health officers should supervise all public health arrangements, and may issue on-the-spot orders to rectify deficiencies. The Act permits the entry and inspection of venues, food stalls, water sources, and accommodations is permitted under the Act. Non-compliance with these measures can be penalised, DPH added.
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