Monitor preparedness for vector-borne diseases: Mandaviya to states

With the onset of monsoon, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya urged states to review their preparedness to deal with vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue and chikungunya.

He also asked them to raise awareness among communities for the prevention and control of such diseases anticipating the health requirements.

Mandaviya virtually interacted with Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang, health ministers from 22 states, principal secretaries and other senior officials as part of the review meeting on Friday.

Underscoring the importance of advance preparedness and joint efforts, he said, We effectively reduce the disease burden with proactive preparation anticipating the health requirements and making adequate provisions for them ahead of time.

He exhorted the states to make optimum utilisation of budget for investing in the health infrastructure, reiterating that implementation of prevention measures leads to decreased disease burden.

The health minister also asked them to share their best practices and innovative public health measures to prevent and control vector breeding along with community mobilisation and awareness creation.

He called for community participation by enhancing and emphasising on behavioural campaigns and information communication to villages, schools and neighborhoods.

The states were advised to involve Ayushman Bharat- Health and Wellness Centres for notification of cases, case management, and ensuring community engagement through IEC/social mobilisation campaign. They were also assured timely availability and effective distribution of drug/diagnostics as well as other required resources specified by the states.

During the meeting, it was informed that according to the transmission trend during 2023 (till June 25), Kerala reported 18 per cent of total cases of dengue followed by Tamil Nadu (17 per cent), Arunachal Pradesh (13 per cent), Karnataka (12 per cent) and Maharashtra (10 per cent). As for deaths due to dengue, Kerala reported 10 deaths, Gujarat and Maharashtra reported one death each.

In the same time frame, Karnataka reported 39 per cent of the total cases of chikungunya followed by Maharashtra (20 per cent), Gujarat (17 per cent) and Puducherry (10 per cent). No death has been reported due to the disease by any state till date and maximum cases are reported during July to December, sources said.

A majority of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) cases (in 2022) were from Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Karnataka, Bihar and Chhattisgarh, they added.