NHRC seeks reports from Centre, Bihar govt over rising AES deaths

The NHRC on Monday sought detailed reports from the Union health secretary and the Bihar chief secretary after taking suo motu cognisance of media reports on the rising number of deaths in Muzaffarpur and other districts in the state due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES).

Issuing notice to the two officials, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said the reports should provide the status of implementation of National Programme for Prevention and Control of Japanese Encephalitis Virus/AES and other steps taken to deal with the painful situation.

"The Commission would also like to know about the status of the treatment being provided to the children, who are presently hospitalised and relief/rehabilitation provided by the State to the aggrieved families. The response is expected within four weeks," the notice said.

"The Commission has observed that in spite of reported measures taken by the government agencies, deaths of children in such a large number indicate towards a possible flaw in the proper implementation of the vaccination and awareness programmes. Not only vaccination but all precautionary measures, such as cleanliness and hygiene etc are also required to be taken sincerely to ensure that young kids do not fall prey to the fatal disease," it said.

The NHRC said, "It is a case of violation of human rights of the victim children and their families, as the State appears to have failed to protect the young innocent lives."

Expressing serious concern over the spread of the viral infection, the Commission observed that encephalitis has claimed the lives of a large number of children in India. Sometime back, Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh was hit by Japanese Encephalitis and about 60 children lost their lives.