Arvind Kejriwal lauds healthcare workers for dengue-control efforts

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday congratulated all healthcare workers for ensuring a drastic drop in the number of dengue cases during a a high level meeting to review the preparedness of the city in dealing with seasonal dengue and chikungunya cases after monsoons, .

“Next four months are very important for the health of the people of Delhi. We have to do better than last year and get the number of the cases further down. We are all together in this fight,” said Kejriwal.

According to government data, Delhi had reported 15,867 dengue cases in 2015, which reduced to 2,798 cases in 2018.

The CM attributed this to increased awareness among people and the efforts of the health officials. Delhi government has carried extensive awareness campaigns for the prevention of these diseases by involving the RWAs and school students as awareness ambassadors.

But, experts said that the government needed to be alert. “There are four strains of dengue and the number of cases comes down when the same strain is in circulation because more people develop immunity to the virus and herd immunity goes up. However, if there is a change in the strain, the numbers may go up. The best way to prevent it is to ensure change in behaviour of the people. The hurdle in Delhi is that there is no regular water supply in many areas and people store water in buckets, leading to breeding,” said Dr DK Seth, advisor to the municipal corporation, who used to head North Corporation’s dengue control measures.

First Published: Jun 21, 2019 05:57 IST