On Monkeypox, What Health Minister Said In Parliament

There is no need to be afraid of monkeypox, an awareness campaign is being run in collaboration with the state governments, the health minister said.

In the wake of the rising cases of Monkeypox in the country, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday asked citizens not to panic and said that an awareness campaign is being run in collaboration with the state governments to prevent the spread of the infection.

Speaking in Rajya Sabha today during the ongoing Monsoon session of the Parliament, the Union Minister said, "There is no need to be afraid of monkeypox, an awareness campaign is being run in collaboration with the state governments: Public awareness is very necessary in the context of monkeypox. We have also formed a task force under the chairmanship of a member of NITI Aayog on behalf of the Government of India."

"On the basis of the observations of the task force, we will assess and study the further action to be taken. If the state government of Kerala needs any kind of help from the Central government, it will be given. Also, an expert team of the Central government is guiding the state government from time to time," he said.

The Union Minister highlighted that when (Monkeypox) cases started appearing in the world, India had already started preparations. "Before the first case in Kerala, we had issued guidelines to all the states," he said.