LUCKNOW: A small fry from the coastal belt of India could prove a potent weapon in the battle against the menace of Japanese encephalitis in eastern Uttar Pradesh. This small killer fish, Gambusia, is known for devouring mosquito larvae - 100 to 300 per day. So, the UP government has added it to its armoury for controlling mosquitoes, which are primary responsible for the spread of the dreaded disease that has claimed more than 5,000 lives in the past seven years.

LUCKNOW: The UP government on Monday cleared projects worth Rs 602 crore to check the dreaded Japanese encephalitis which has claimed more than 5,000 lives in the past seven years. An inter-departmental committee headed by chief secretary Jawed Usmani finalized the projects for 20 affected districts of the state.

The Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday ordered a probe following reports that as many as 358 children had died in Srinagar’s premier children’s hospital since January 2012. It admitted to 35 deaths having occurred in the last fortnight alone.

Chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted, “The Cabinet (which met here Wednesday) has taken a serious note of the situation in G.B. Pant Hospital.” He said Sher-i-Kashmir Instit-ute of Medical Sciences director Showkat Zargar has been asked to review functioning and report back to the Cabinet in one week.

NALBARI: Keeping in view the malarial deaths that occur in large number during the rainy season, NRHM Nalbari has taken up several innovative measures to make the masses aware about malaria and other vector borne diseases. In order to spread awareness among the villagers, NRHM Nalbari has decided to hold meetings at different villages of the district clubbed with folk media performances, stated a release.

New Delhi: The country’s first integrated vaccine centre (IVC) — a single site that will produce six important vaccines administered to Indian children — has crossed the final hurdle. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday approved the Union health ministry’s Rs 594-crore park proposal.

Spread over 100 acres at Chengalpattu near Chennai, the park will produce all six primary vaccines used in the country’s Universal Immunization Programme (UIP), besides manufacturing several new-generation vaccines.

Centre recommends concerted action during ‘inter-epidemic' period

Concerned over the increasing frequency of outbreaks of vector-borne diseases, the Centre has asked the States to undertake effective control activities during the ‘inter-epidemic' period. Importantly, it wanted the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) to be trained, along with other programme personnel, so that their services can be utilised when needed.

NewDelhi:Delhi is under attack from the Culex mosquito, persistent biters whose numbers are known to grow exponentially at dawn and dusk. Alarm bells were rung after a “very high density” of these mosquitoes was reported in the past two weeks. The spurt, reported by the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, made MCD call an emergency meeting on March 27 with officials from Delhi, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon and Noida. They plan to launch a massive exercise to cover open drains or “blast” them with the bio larvicide, BTI, with the help of pressure tanks.

After 4,000 deaths and 19,000 victims over seven years, encephalitis has made it to the election manifestoes of most parties in Uttar Pradesh in 2012. On ground zero in eastern Uttar Pradesh, however, it is still to figure in the candidates’ campaign. Voters are angry and frustrated but say they are not surprised. Some are determined not to vote at all on February 8 and 11, when the seats in these areas go to polls.

Dibrugarh: District Media expert Rituraj Borthakur said that a measles catch-up programme will soon be started in Dibrugarh district by March. Children from 9 months to 10 years of age will be administrated the doses of measles vaccine as a special drive.

While addressing at the campaign on Health and Family welfare launched by the Directorate of Field Publicity, Dibrugarh at Rongagora village under Tengakhat Development Block, he said that awareness should be created among the people about importance of immunisation.

Absence of preventive measures and affordable and accessible health care leads to nearly 500 encephalitis deaths in Uttar Pradesh.
IT is a strange paradox. In a country that aspires to be a superpower and boasts of rapid economic growth, 488 children died in a State, Uttar Pradesh, from encephalitis alone this year. It is nothing less than a national shame and tragedy. In six districts of Bihar, close to 200 children died this year. These are deaths that occurred in hospitals and hence were reported; the actual toll could be far higher.