Epidemic Diseases Act
GS PAPER II: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.
Context: The Union government has asked the States to declare mucormycosis, the fungal infection being reported in COVID-19 patients, an epidemic.
What is mucormycosis or black fungus?
What is mucormycosis or black fungus?
- It is made a notifiable disease under Epidemic Diseases Act 1897.
What is a notifiable disease?
- A notifiable disease is any disease that is required by law to be reported to government authorities.
- Registered medical practitioners need to notify such diseases in a proper form within three days, or notify verbally via phone within 24 hours depending on the urgency of the situation.
- This means every government hospital, private hospital, laboratories, and clinics will have to report cases of the disease to the government.
Significance of notifying a disease:
- The collation of information allows the authorities to monitor the disease, and provides early warning of possible outbreaks.
- The process helps the government keep track and formulate a plan for elimination and control.
- In less infectious conditions, it improves information about the burden and distribution of disease.
Some notifiable diseases:
- The Centre has notified several diseases such as cholera, diphtheria, encephalitis, leprosy, meningitis, pertussis (whooping cough), plague, tuberculosis, AIDS, hepatitis, measles, yellow fever, malaria dengue, etc. The onus of notifying any disease and the implementation lies with the state government.
- Any failure to report a notifiable disease is a criminal offence and the state government can take necessary actions against defaulters.
Epidemic Diseases Act 1897
- The colonial government introduced the Act to tackle the epidemic of bubonic plague that had spread in the erstwhile Bombay Presidency in the 1890s.
Provisions of the 1897 Epidemic Diseases Act
- The Act, which consists of four sections, aims to provide “for the better prevention of the spread of Dangerous Epidemic Diseases.”
- It empowers state governments/UTs to take special measures and formulate regulations for containing the outbreak.
- It provides penalties for disobeying any regulation or order made under the Act.
- These are according to section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant).
- It gives legal protection to the implementing officers acting under the Act.
Examples of implementation
- In 2018, the district collector of Gujarat’s Vadodara issued a notification under the Act declaring the Khedkarmsiya village in Waghodia taluka as cholera-affected after 31 persons complained of symptoms of the disease.
- In 2015, to deal with malaria and dengue in Chandigarh, the Act was implemented
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