Next time a pandemic like COVID-19 breaks out, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) would be ready to deal with it in a much better fashion thanks to Metropolitan Surveillance Unit (MSU). The centre has come into being post-analysis of situation wherein urban bodies found themselves in helpless situation to tackle the outbreak of epidemic. The last epidemic that had struck the nation was that of plague, but little data was available about the same, mostly the steps undertaken by health machinery to overcome the situation and control the spread of communicable disease. It was almost a century back and with no documentation available with health machinery, it was handicapped to deal with COVID-19 outbreak then.

 

Apart from financial loss, the casualty due to last epidemic dealt a severe blow to social fabric in the country, especially in aftermath of second wave. So learning lessons from COVID-19, National Communicable Disease Centre (NCDC) has gone for establishment of MSUs across major cities of country. The aim of the programme is to remain prepared for tackling any such outbreak in the future. In city since NMC is entrusted with citizens health care, the MSU is set-up under its watch and the civic body officials are going to oversee the functioning of the module. MSU has been set up at KT Nagar Urban Primary Health Centre. NMC has got Rs 4 crore grant from NCDC for establishment of the unit which covers salaries for the staff and most importantly the funds are also meant for setting up a full fledged laboratory on the lines of National Virology Institute (NVI), Pune.

 

The staff for whom salaries and grants are also sanctioned include surveillance officer, epidemiologist, microbiologist, entomologist and other helping technicians to man the laboratory, stated Narendra Bahirwar, Additional Medical Health Officer, NMC, while explaining the concept of MSU. COVID-19 epidemic resulted in each and every sample for gnome sequencing or recently after GBS outbreak the NMC was dependent on NIV for confirmation of the virus. So the idea of MSU came into being to ensure faster response from urban bodies to tackle such outbreak, which emerges all of a sudden Therefore, NCDC floated idea of MSU wherein the laboratory at local level would ensure faster testing of samples and once the reasons for outbreak of any epidemic is learnt the authorities can shape their response as needed. Right now reports from NIV takes a long time as they have to deal with sample from many centres at a time, said Bahirwar.

 

With NMC itself having in-house hi-tech laboratory, the response time would be reduced, besides the Health Machinery can take faster decision to stem the outbreak or prevent its spread. There are many viruses and bacteria and the laboratory tests are necessary to confirm their identity, for which proper sequencing is carried out under high end microscope, as then only health machinery can decide on the strategy needed to be adopted to tackle the epidemic. After all human health is of prime importance and as seen during the COVID-19, at times the diseases spread quickly, more so in densely populated urban spaces.

 

Thus the hi-tech laboratory, it is under process, will bolster the NMC’s health care plan for city. The laboratory will also help in identifying reasons for outbreak of other communicable diseases, some quite frequent, and help pinpoint the reasons behind the same, added Dr Bahirwar. He said that right now the appointments of specialist needed to man the centre is being done. The equipments needed at the laboratory are being procured. Once this process is completed, the laboratory set-up would be undertaken by NMC.