Japanese Encephalitis deaths: Bijoy flays goverment for negligence

BHUBANESWAR: Senior BJP leader Bijoy Mahapatra on Wednesday lashed out at the state government for failing to control the Japanese Encephalitis situation in Malkangiri district. Forty-seven children have died of the disease since September 8.
He said the state government has not sent enough doctors to the villages.
"As health is a state subject, the government needs to be sensitive and responsive towards the health issues of the people.The officials are reviewing the situation from the district headquarters without visiting the villages," said Mahapatra.
He said the government is taking into account only those cases that have come to the hospital but several patients are suffering in remote areas. At least 50 health teams need to be sent to those areas for treatment and sensitization of the people, he added. Mahapatra said the Centre should carry out immunization programme in the affected areas.
BJP state spokesperson Golak Mohapatra said the statement issued by Mahapatra is his personal opinion. The spokesperson further said West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh received vaccines from the Centre, but Odisha did not ask for it. "The state government has failed to provide health facilities to people of the state. Nagada and Malkangiri are the best examples of it," he added.
He said oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan had met Union health minister J P Nadda to look into the JE deaths. Nadda had assured Pradhan that the Centre will provide all necessary help to the state.