Dengue treatment management hotline for doctors

Nadira GUNATILLEKE

The Health Ministry will launch a hotline for dengue treatment management.

The main objective of this hotline is to implement dengue treatment protocol and offer services of specialized doctors while treating dengue patients, a ministry spokesman said.

According to the spokesman the assistance of paediatricians and neurologists' associations will be obtained to operate the hotline.

Any doctor treating a dengue patient in any hospital can obtain consultation from specialized doctors who had undergone special training, once the hotline is introduced.

Three specialist doctors, paediatricians and neuro surgeons attached to Lady Ridgeway Hospital, Colombo and Colombo National Hospital will be available for consultation on the hotline. Several specialist doctors will offer other services on the hotline. The telephone bills will be paid by the Health Ministry on the direction of Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry commenced the National Dengue Death Audit to assist dengue patients and health professionals. The audit will also cover dengue patients who have been cured. The audit will focus on 50 dengue deaths and dengue patients who have been cured. Successful case management is another expectation of this audit.

The audit will find out the reasons for dengue patients deaths. It will find out whether dead dengue patients followed guidelines and whether they sought medical treatment on time.

It will also find out the other reasons that led to dengue deaths. The same audit will find out how dengue patients were fully cured and what led them to be cured quickly and successfully, he added.