AES death toll reaches 65. Union health minister Harsh Vardhan, Ashwini Choubey to visit Muzaffarpur today

Giving this information, union minister of state for home affairs, Nityanand Rai, who visited SKMCH Muzaffarpur, said that the Centre and state governments were extending all help to doctors.

Union minister for health Dr Harsh Vardhan and his junior minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey will visit Muzaffarpur on Sunday to take stock of the situation. So far, 65 children have died of AES, though unconfirmed sources put the toll at 73.

An Indian child arrives in a hospital due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) as family members react in Muzaffarpur. (AFP)

Giving this information, union minister of state for home affairs, Nityanand Rai, who visited SKMCH Muzaffarpur, said that the Centre and state governments were extending all help to doctors.

A release issued by Dr Harsh Vardhan confirmed his visit to Muzaffarpur. He will interact with the multi-disciplinary teams deployed there and address the state level review meeting. “I shall discuss the management measures being recommended by the high level expert team of the Centre, and support that can be extended through National Health Mission (NHM) for health systems strengthening, and other ministries of the central government including the ministry of women and child development, as part of the immediate and long term measures”, he stated.

He added that the health ministry was monitoring the situation and supporting the state health authorities. “The continued round-the-clock presence of the central and state teams in the affected areas and preventive actions taken by them have instilled confidence among the public. We will soon be able to contain the rise in AES/JE cases,” added the minister.

Earlier, union minister Nityanand Rai, who is also the BJP unit president in Bihar, cancelled all his public felicitations and programmes in the wake of AES deaths in the state and drove straight from the party office to SKMCH. Rai visited the wards and enquired about the treatment being offered to patients.