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Centre drags its feet on vaccine: U.P.

LUCKNOW: The Mayawati Government in Uttar Pradesh has accused the UPA Government of not cooperating with it in its effort to contain the outbreak of encephalitis and malaria in the State. The State Government is particularly irked at the Centre dragging its feet on the timely supply of vaccines and cold chain equipment.

The State Health Minister, Anant Kumar Mishra, told reporters here on Tuesday that 10 lakh Japanese Encephalitis vaccines had been demanded from the Central Government, of which, only 4.6 lakh vaccines were supplied to Uttar Pradesh. He regretted that all the 4.6 lakh vaccines were sub-standard. Mr. Mishra said following the directives of the Central Government, 5.80 lakh doses of measles vaccine and 21 lakh doses of BCG vaccine were lying unutilised. The non-availability of adequate number of cold chains and unutilised vaccines have created a problem of storage, the Minister said.

Mr. Mishra said the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati, had written a letter to the Union Health Minister on January 31, 2008 regarding the supply of cold chains. The Minister regretted that no action had been taken on the Chief Minister’s letter. The shortage of cold chain equipment had created a storage problem for the polio and Japanese Encephalitis vaccines, Mr. Mishra added.

The Health Minister said under the Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, the Centre would supply malaria control material to the State. However, of the 2100 metric tonne DDT demanded by the State Government only 405 MT has been allotted to Uttar Pradesh, the Minister said, adding that the State has been asked to arrange for the supply of malatheon.

Till September 16, 2008, Acute Encephalitis Syndrome and Japanese Encephalitis had claimed 234 lives in the State with Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Maharajganj, Basti, Siddhartnagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, Bahraich and Shravasti being the worst effected.

There have been 18 malaria deaths with Kanpur Dehat district accounting for the maximum number of casualties. Malaria cases have also been reported from Sonebhadra, Mirzapur, Allahabad, Budaun, Jaunpur, Farrukhabad and Bijnor districts. Malaria and encephalitis cases this year have multiplied on account of floods and heavy rains.

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Centre drags its feet on vaccine: U.P.

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