Mosquito abatement committee to curb dengue, chikungunya

Pune: Experts from the Union health ministry's National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme (NVBDCP) visited the city this week to review the prevailing mosquito menace in the city and issued a slew of orders to rein in cases of dengue and chikungunya, on the rise since January this year.
Pune has recorded the highest number of dengue and chikungunya cases in the state over the past four months.A 78-year-old woman died of dengue a week ago.
"We took stock of the situation vis-a-vis rising cases of dengue and chikungunya in Pune city and advised health officials of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to form a mosquito abatement committee to keep a check on breeding and mosquito-borne diseases in an integrated manner. Besides, we have asked them to chalk out plans to completely bring down cases of malarial infection," said a senior official of NVBDCP who reviewed the mosquito scene in Pune on May 23.
Anjali Sabne, the deputy health officer of PMC, said, "The officials from NVBDCP have spoken about initiating a slew of mosquito control activities we have been carrying out to check the mosquito menace. Besides, we will follow the other guidelines in term of forming committee and chalking out comprehensive plan to bring down malaria cases. NVBDCP also reimbursed us a pending amount of Rs 1.5 crore, which we had utilized in issuing payments to employees involved in mosquito control in Pune city under its scheme in the past. "
As many as 193 citizens have been found infected with the mosquito-borne disease this year, including 30 cases in May so far. The municipal administration has recorded 134 cases of chikungunya since January.
The state health department has directed PMC to chalk out a micro-level action plan to check the spread of dengue. Kanchan Jagtap, the joint director of the state health department, said they had told PMC to carry out a surveillance in the affected areas of the city. "We want them to visit 100 households in the vicinity of a dengue patient and carry out cleanliness and sanitation drives. The civic body will also create awareness on how people can prevent mosquito breeding inside their houses," Jagtap said.
S T Pardeshi, medical officer of health, PMC, said all precautions were being taken to arrest the growth cycle of mosquitoes.
Maharashtra government declared both dengue and swine flu as notifiable diseases under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 this January. The inclusion of the mosquito-borne infection in the act empowers district collectors to take measures to prevent its outbreak and spread within their jurisdiction. It is now mandatory for private practitioners and laboratories to report every case of dengue to the government.