Question : Water Borne Infectious Diseases

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

(a) whether lakhs of people lose their lives due to water borne infectious diseases every year;

(b) if so, the details of total number of Bacteriologists working in the country at present, State/UT-wise;

(c) whether the number of Bacteriologists in the country are sufficient in view of the overall population of the country, if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether there is any provision for setting up well-equipped laboratories in hilly, far-flung and backward areas of the country; and

(e) if so, the details thereof?

ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND
FAMILY WELFARE
(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)
(a): As per the data reported by Central Bureau of health Intelligence (CBHI), the details of deaths due to water borne diseases in the country in the year 2018 and 2019 are place at Annexure-I.

(b) to (e): As per information provide by Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission(JJM) in partnership with States, to provide tap water supply to every rural household by 2024. Under JJM, upto 2% of the allocation to States/UTs can be utilized for Water Quality Monitoring & Surveillance activities (WQM&S), inter-alia including for setting up / upgrading of various level drinking water quality testing laboratories, procurement of equipments, instruments, chemicals, glassware’s, consumables and outsourcing of services, etc. The state-wise details of water quality testing laboratories and bacteriologists, as reported by State/UTs in JJM-Integrated Management Information System(IMIS) are at Annexure-II.

Under the sub-cadre of Central Health Scheme (CHS) in Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, the sanctioned strength for the posts of Bacteriologists/ Microbiologist/ Serologists is 118.