Is Centre fudging data on TN swine flu deaths?

Is the Union Health Ministry fudging data on swine flu deaths? You would assume so if you were to go by the consolidated list of A(H1N1) cases across the country put out by the Press Information Bureau (PIB).

The fiction: according to the Union health ministry’s list, Tamil Nadu witnessed no “death of lab confirmed cases during the week Sept 6-12”. The fact: the week saw two deaths in quick succession — on September 10 and 11, a fact confirmed by the State government.
If this is the case with respect to Tamil Nadu, one wonders if the figur es put out by the PIB for the rest of the country are credible. For, it is the Centre’s statistics that determine the policy the country will take to fight the disease.
T Porkai Pandian, director, Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, when contacted, blamed the Centre for the slip. “We have asked the Union hea lth ministry to update their website as the figures are misleading. In fact, they are supposed to update it as and when a lab-confirmed death occurs anywhere in the country and the State government concerned informs them, but that has not happened,” he said.
According to the Centre’s website, there have been seven lab-confirmed A(H1N1) deaths in Tamil Nadu since May 2009. In contrast, State records peg the figure at 10. That includes ano ther case of lab-confirmed death on Sept ember 17 in Coimbatore. The State has recorded about 900 swine flu cases, of which about 100 are still under treatment. The Tamil Nadu health department’s website on swine flu has not been updated since July 1, 2009.