A mission to save the lives of people in the high-risk groups has been launched in Rajasthan with the emphasis on identifying people above 60 years, people suffering from high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer and pulmonary disease, pregnant women and children below 10 years living in COVID-19 containment zones.
Additional Chief Secretary (Medical & Health) Rohit Kumar Singh said here on Wednesday that the “mission life saving” would identify the high-risk people at the early stage of novel coronavirus infection, track their medical history for targeted attention and treat them on priority.
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Most of the COVID-19-related deaths in Rajasthan have been reported from among the high-risk groups. Of the 27 deceased in Jaipur district, only six were below 30 years. Mr. Singh said the mission’s primary objective was to save the lives of the vulnerable to the maximum possible extent.
Collecting data
Information about the high-risk groups will be culled from the Mahatma Gandhi Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme’s data base, non-communicable diseases’ data base, senior citizens’ pension documents, electoral rolls, ration cards and the records of government pensioners. The information will be used for preparing list of patients in each municipal ward and village.
Respiratory vulnerabilities
“We are also tracking the history of their treatment under the health insurance scheme from the data for the last four years. The patients will be quickly identified for respiratory and other vulnerabilities such as kidney, hypertension, diabetes and similar conditions,” Mr. Singh said. This would enable doctors to pay special attention to them.
Citing an example of indicative numbers in the segmented age groups for one of the large outbreak zones in Jaipur’s Ramganj area, Mr. Singh said the highest number of 6,366 people were in the age group of 60 to 69, while there were 2,866 people of the age of 70 to 79, 794 of the age of 80 to 89 and 114 of the age of 90 to 100 years.
The order for initiating the “mission life saving” was issued on Tuesday and sent to all District Collectors and Chief Medical and Health Officers. The mission’s activities will include survey in containment zones, health check-up through mobile OPD vans and passive surveillance.
