Awareness Against Spread of communicable diseases Priority – Dr Rajkumar
Mangaluru: District Nodal Officer Dr Rajkumar held a press meet at the Heath and Family Welfare department office here, on June 18.
Addressing the mediapersons, Dr Rajkumar said that the department has been trying to find a solution to prevent communicable diseases such as dengue and malaria. “We have already started the ‘Swachata Saptah’ (Cleanliness Week) from June 16 and it will continue till June 22. We have also been visiting construction sites and bringing awareness about the prevention of dengue and malaria among the workers. We have identified 350 construction sites and have already visited and held awareness programmes at 52 sites. In Puttur, we have organised taluk level awareness programme in the hospitals.”
Dr Rajkumar further said that more awareness needs to be brought among citizens since the rainy season has begun. “People in the city drink tender coconuts and throw them away in their gardens or on the roadsides, which leads to the storage of rain water. This in turn will act as breeding spots for mosquitoes. We should not store water in a place for more than a week. We will visit educational institutions, hotels, industries and construction sites to bring awareness among the people to keep their surroundings clean.”
This year there has been a decrease in the number of malaria and dengue cases compared to last year. Between January to May this year, there have been 1786 reported malaria cases whereas it was 1966 last year during the same period. Last year from January to May, 49 dengue cases were reported while the number is 134 this year. Four people have died in Puttur and Beltangady but it has not been confirmed whether all the four died due to dengue.
District Health officer-in-charge Dr Sikandar Pasha, Dr Deepa Prabhu, Dr Rajesh, Dr Naveenchandra, Dr Kalamadhu and Dr Subramanya were also present.