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He urged countries to make optimal use of the budget to invest in health infrastructure. (image: PTI file)
He also asked them to raise awareness among communities to prevent and combat such diseases, in anticipation of health requirements
With the onset of the monsoon, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandavia 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 to prevent and combat such diseases, in anticipation of health requirements.
Mandavia interacted virtually with Chief Minister of Sikkim Prem Singh Tamang, health ministers from 22 states, principal secretaries and other senior officials as part of the review meeting on Friday. He stressed the importance of prior preparation and joint efforts, and said, “We are effectively reducing the burden of disease through proactive preparation to anticipate health requirements and make appropriate provisions for them early on.”
He urged the states to make optimal use of the budget to invest in health infrastructure, stressing that the implementation of prevention measures leads to a reduction in the disease burden. The Minister of Health also asked them to share their best practices and innovative public health measures to prevent and control disease vector proliferation along with community mobilization and awareness creation.
He called for community participation by promoting behavioral campaigns and media communication and emphasizing them for villages, schools and neighborhoods.
States were advised to engage Ayushman Bharat- Health and Wellness Centers for case reporting, case management, and ensuring community participation through IEC/social mobilization campaign. They are also assured of the timely availability and efficient distribution of medicines/diagnostics as well as other required resources as mandated by the states.
During the meeting, it was informed that as per the transmission trend during 2023 (till 25 June), Kerala reported 18 per cent of the total dengue cases followed by Tamil Nadu (17 per cent), Arunachal Pradesh (13 per cent) and Karnataka (12 per cent). ) and Maharashtra (10 per cent). As for dengue deaths, Kerala reported 10 deaths, and Gujarat and Maharashtra reported one death each.
In the same time frame, Karnataka reported 39 percent of the total cases of chikungunya followed by Maharashtra (20 percent), Gujarat (17 percent) and Puducherry (10 percent). The sources said that no deaths due to the disease have been reported by any country so far, and maximum cases were reported during the period from July to December.
They added that the majority of Japanese encephalitis cases (in 2022) were from Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Karnataka, Bihar and Chhattisgarh.
(This story was not edited by the News18 staff and was published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)
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