Focusing on prevention, the Uttar Pradesh government will run a month-long special statewide campaign against communicable diseases from October 1. The government will also hold a ‘Dastak’ campaign from October 7 to October 21.
In the months of April and July, two stages of the Communicable Disease Control and ‘Dastak’ campaigns were carried out in all the 75 districts of the state.
The encephalitis and vector-borne diseases prevention programme will be run by as many as 11 departments. ASHA-Anganwadi workers will go door to door during the campaign to identify those suffering from TB, flu, fever, malnourishment and ILI (influenza-like illness). The report will be submitted with the Health department.
The Uttar Pradesh government has made every attempt to address the health issues posed by vector-borne and other seasonal diseases.
Instructions have been issued to the Medical and Health, Urban Development, Panchayati Raj & Rural Development, Education, Bal Vikas Sewa Evam Pushtahar, Medical Education, Agriculture & Irrigation, Animal Husbandry, Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Horticulture and Information departments to prepare an action plan in this regard.
The campaign will include participation from UNICEF and World Health Organization (WHO). At the state level, nodal officers will be chosen from each department to ensure the campaign goes well. Meetings with the nodal officers will be held periodically to track campaign-related actions.
A major focus of the programme is raising awareness about vector control, hygiene, garbage disposal, preventing waterlogging and availability of clear drinking water.
As part of the campaign, door-to-door distribution of zinc tablets, ORS packets, and chlorine tablets to purify water will be held keeping in mind acute diarrhoea cases.
After the end of the campaign, the teams will send interdepartmental reports to the Communicable Disease Unit and the DG of Health Services. To raise awareness about vector-borne diseases, the Education department will host poster, discussion and quiz contests while the department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities will conduct a survey and provide children with disabilities owing to Japanese Encephalitis and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome with assistive devices during the campaign. Additionally, anti-larvae medications and fogging agents will be sprayed in both urban and rural regions while dirty areas will be identified and cleanliness drives launched there on a massive scale.