the monsoon merely days away, the Uttar Pradesh government is all buckled up to combat seasonal and water-borne diseases. Launching a mega health drive to safeguard children, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed officials to send medical kits door to door to save children from seasonal ailments from June 15.
Addressing a high-level meeting in Lucknow on Saturday, the CM said, “Fever clinics have been set up at CHCs and PHCs to make sure patients can be treated on an immediate basis. Make special efforts to improve surveillance and keep the spread of these diseases in check. To prevent the spread of encephalitis and malaria, special precautions should be initiated in all districts adjoining Nepal, including Gorakhpur and Basti.”
Stating that any kind of laxity could spiral into a scary situation, Yogi said, “Special efforts should be made to improve surveillance. Along with the Health department, Rural Development and Child Development departments should also stay alert. ASHA & Anganwadi workers, ANMs, and village heads should be entrusted with the responsibility to apprise people about various water-borne and mosquito-borne diseases. They should prepare a list of people suffering from fever. Also intensify arrangements to prevent mosquito-borne diseases, entrust responsibilities to the gram panchayats, nagar panchayats, municipalities and municipal corporations.”
In recent weeks, anti-larva spray and work on indoor residual spray (IRS) especially from DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) in all districts have been intensified. IRS is the process of spraying the inside of dwellings with an insecticide to kill mosquitoes that spread malaria. As per the action plan for effective prevention of vector-borne diseases, gambusia fish has been put in ponds iin most districts of the state. These fishe play a vital role in eliminating the larvae.
The CM also asked to ensure regular sanitation and fogging drives to curb the threat of water-borne diseases ahead of the monsoons and start special cleanliness drives by municipal corporations, municipalities and nagar panchayats.