The Indian government is flying in more doctors and paramedics to tsunami-hit regions, particularly the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, many of which continue to be inaccessible for relief work.

Simultaneously, around 75 psychiatrists are being sent to the affected areas, mostly on the mainland, to help calm devastated people and help them start lives anew, said Health Secretary Prasanna Hota.

While Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss and his senior officials are touring the mainland areas to supervise relief work, the health ministry is focusing more attention on the inhabited Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which remained cut off for several days after the tsunamis Dec 26.

"Around eight of the inhabited Andaman and Nicobar Islands are the hardest hit. We are flying in 20 more doctors and 50 paramedics to these islands," said Hota.

"Already 37 doctors and 25 paramedics have been set to Port Blair along with requisite medicines and other relief materials to ensure the supply of clean water. But the problem of dispensing these materials to the affected islands continues to pose a problem in some cases," Hota told in an interview.

Hota admitted that unlike the mainland areas in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, where there is no lack of medical facilities, in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands' efforts have to be further stepped up.

"In the mainland, some system has already been put in place but in the case of the islands a lot more needs to be done," Hota said.

After the initial relief, steps are being take to immunise the tsunami-hit people, particularly children and mothers, against measles, provide Vitamin A solutions and other facilities as per the guidelines of the WHO, Unicef and UNFP, the official said.

Hota denied reports that a viral storm is brewing in the Nicobar Island that could lead to a cholera epidemic.

He said the findings of the Port Blair-based Regional Medical Research Centre (ICMR) about vibrio cholerae, a common bacterial infection, which led to cholera in 2002, had been published in May last year but till October no similar incident had occurred.

"The surveillance for early detection of any epidemic is in place. We did not immediately start on the immunisation as it would have been unsafe and could have led to other problems. But now disposable and auto-dispose syringes have been dispatched and we would start the immunisation," Hota said.

India has decided against cholera and typhoid vaccination "as we are not sure about the efficacy of the vaccines and fear it could lead to side effects. Nonetheless, we have kept the vaccines as standby," the official said.

The government is trying to set up a cold chain for proper storage and handling of vaccines and also sending male medical orderlies to the islands to reach out to those in inaccessible areas.

Complying with the WHO list of 30 essential items for disaster-hit areas, the ministry has dispatched stocks of medicines and provisions for clean drinking water for three months to Port Blair and is now in the process of getting them across to the different islands.

"Though we have plenty of trained medical staff and doctors available, what we need to learn is to work quickly and in a group. India has the capacity and is ready to offer help to other affected countries like Maldives, Sri Lanka and Indonesia," he said.

Around 150,000 people are estimated to have been killed in 12 countries in the tsunamis that struck Dec 26 in South and Southeast Asia.