The district administration is fully geared to check the spread of malaria and other seasonal diseases in the district. There are no malaria deaths this year and the 22 deaths, which occurred this season, were due to other causes, according to District Collector Pravin Kumar.
Medical teams were deputed to the affected areas to spread awareness among the tribal people to report to the Asha workers, who would immediately report the matter to the ANM s concerned. Rapid Diagnosis Tools (RDTs) have also been given to the Asha workers for starting the medication immediately, the Collector told a media conference here on Monday.
The lack of awareness among tribal people and their failure to report to the Asha workers of their problems was the cause for the spread of malaria and other diseases. Despite this, the number of malaria cases (January to June) came down from 2,229 in 2016 to 1,933 this year. He attributed this to the residual spraying from April 15 and visits from time to time by special teams from various government departments apart from the Medical and Health Department.
On waterborne diseases, Mr. Pravin Kumar said that people have been asked to boil the water used for drinking and chlorination was being done by the panchayats. He said that 503 health teams were deputed to conduct door-to-door surveys and create awareness among the people on preventive measures. Citing an example, he said that mosquito nets were distributed in the past but it was observed that many were not using them.
‘Anthrax under control’
Anthrax was under control and 10,000 animals, in a 10-km radius of Kodipunjuvalasa, were being vaccinated. He said that only eight persons were affected by anthrax in the Agency and no new cases were reported.
The Collector said that measures were being taken to fill the vacant posts of doctors, staff nurses, ANM s and Asha workers. A notification was already issued in this regard and the vacancies would be filled by July 15.
He said there was no shortage of drugs and appealed to the affected people to contact the health workers or the nearest PHC, if they had any fever. He underlined the importance of controlling mosquito breeding to check the spread of diseases. District Medical and Health Officer Uma Sundari and District Coordinator of Hospital Services Naik were present.
