Action plan to combat dengue soon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Health Minister P.K. Sreemathy said here on Tuesday that the Health Department was planning to implement a State-level vector control programme to prevent dengue fever outbreak.  Inaugurating a city Corporation convention to discuss dengue fever prevention activities, the Minister said that a meeting of all District Medical Officers (DMO) and higher officials of the Health Department would be conducted on January 24 to formulate a State-level action plan.  Ms. Sreemathy said the situation in Thiruvananthapuram was a matter of concern as dengue fever cases had been reported from various parts of the district. "Over the last few days, different kinds of vector-borne diseases have been reported from various parts of the State. But in Thiruvananthapuram, cases of dengue fever itself are being reported. Almost 40 per cent of the dengue fever cases reported from the district are in the Corporation area," Ms. Sreemathy said.  The Minister said she had held a meeting with Corporation Health Standing Committee members and officials to evolve an action plan for vector source reduction activities. Based on this, the Corporation would be conducting a ward-level mosquito elimination and source reduction drive on January 22.  "The drive will begin at 7 a.m. on January 22, as part of which ward-level squads will be visiting individual households in a door-to-door campaign. Representatives of residents associations, 'kudumbasree' volunteers, 'anganwadi' workers and members of other volunteering organisations will be mobilised to constitute the squads," she said.  The Minister said that the source reduction campaign in the city needed to be carried out on a war-footing considering the seriousness of the situation.  Each ward had been given Rs.10,000 from the National Rural Health Mission for carrying out vector-control activities. Ms. Sreemathy said that the Health Department would provide medicines, fogging and spraying machines to the squads.  She, however, added that city residents should not wait for health workers to clear their houses and premises of water-collecting bodies as this was something every one could do.  "To keep your houses and premises clean and clear of mosquito breeding grounds is every person's responsibility. Source reduction is something each one of us can do at our own houses," she said.  Mayor C. Jayan Babu presided over the function. Mr. Jayan Babu said that mosquito elimination and source reduction was the only way to prevent dengue fever outbreak as no medicines or vaccines had been discovered so far to cure the disease.  MLAs V. Sivankutty and V. Surendran Pillai; NRHM mission director Dinesh Arora; Corporation secretary Johnson K. George; Deputy Mayor V. Jayaprakash; and Corporation health standing committee chairman G.R. Anil; health officer Dr. D. Sreekumar; representatives of residents' associations; headmasters; Kudumbasree workers; and other volunteers participated in the convention. 

The Hindu, 22nd January 2009