Modi urges people to maintain cleanliness to avoid dengue

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged people to maintain cleanliness to prevent getting affected by dengue.

"Dengue is dangerous but prevention is easy... if we take care of cleanliness in small things," he said in his radio address Mann Ki Baat.

The prime minister said though awareness was there, yet there was a gap.

"We must not make death so cheap... Apathy to cleanliness becomes the invitation for death, this is not acceptable."

Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda thanked the prime minister for raising an important health issue.

Nadda said Modi rightly highlighted contemporary and relevant health issues such as ending all preventable maternal and child deaths in the country and simple steps to prevent dengue.

The health minister said the emphasis on preventing dengue through simple measures in the prime minister's 'Mann Ki Baat' would create widespread awareness about maintaining sanitation and hygiene in our surroundings and protection from the disease.