Swine flu: Government sets flu test price at Rs 4,500

Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said, “After media reports, we have ensured that private labs are not allowed to charge more than Rs 4,500 per test. There is a procedure and let your doctor decide whether you should get tested or admitted. We have kept many private and Central government laboratories on standby. I want to request people to not panic.”

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Health department authorities said they held a meeting with proprietors and microbiologists of private laboratories to understand the disparity in pricing. “We found that all labs were doing the same PCR test, so there is no reason for disparity. It was decided by mutual consent to keep Rs 4,500 as the sealing price. Labs that are charging Rs 3,500 or less will continue to charge the same,” Dr S K Sharma, Director, Health Services (Delhi), said.

Dr Sharma said labs would also be sent “strict guidelines” on who should be tested. “We should not make a business out of panic. Labs will be sent guidelines to ensure only Category C patients — those who have warning symptoms like difficulty in breathing and no comorbid conditions and who are referred by a hospital —- are tested,” he said.

For patients in Category B — children, the elderly or those with pre-existing diseases like diabetes and cancer — the Health department has directed that they be given Tamiflu directly without testing.

After complaints of test results being delayed at government laboratories emerged, the Health department directed the labs at AIIMS and Vallabhai Patel Chest Institute to also test samples from other government hospitals.

Dr Prasad, in his letter to the Delhi health secretary, said that the three identified government laboratories “have adequate capacity” to do H1N1 tests free of cost.

“We have heard some hospitals like Patel Chest are not doing as many tests as it should. We have directed it to conduct more tests. Reports from NCDC were delayed for a few days, but now we are trying to ensure that reports are given on the same day or the next day,” Dr Sharma said.

Health authorities said Category A patients who only have mild influenza-like symptoms should not get tested or treated, since H1N1 has become part of the seasonal influenza cycle which included two other virus strains — Influenza A and H3N2. “Of the six H1N1 deaths we have seen, two patients had mixed infections — other strains with H1N1,” Dr Sharma said.

Meanwhile, to meet the Tamiflu requirements, Delhi drug regulatory authorities will be going on “spot checks” on Thursday to issue licences for mandatory Schedule X drugs to private chemists. This will authorise them to stock Tamiflu.

“We plan to cover about 40 chemists in this drive,” Delhi drug controller general S B Shashank said. So far, around 100 chemists in the city already have this licence. “We have also met officebearers of the Delhi Medical Association and directed 13 of their branches to now start stocking Tamiflu. All government hospitals have been sent double stocks of the medicine.”