Stepping up surveillance to prevent any disease outbreak during summer, the Health and Family Welfare Department has directed all its District Health Officers (DHOs) to certify the quality of water supplied through tankers across the State.
Addressing presspersons here on Friday, Shalini Rajneesh, Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare), said with most villages dependent on tanker water, there are apprehensions about the quality of water supplied through them. “Water quality has to be checked at the source from where it is drawn. Squads will be formed to conduct random checks.
This will be done in coordination with the local municipal bodies, urban and rural water supply boards, the Regional Transport Office, and the Police. The DHOs will be made accountable if contaminated water is supplied,” she said.
With the changed working hours rule for government offices in north Karnataka (in view of the rising temperature) also applicable for health centres, the mobile medical units and Arogya Kavacha ambulances will be equipped with ORS packets and drinking water to handle emergency cases.
“Our mobile medical units are fully equipped to screen patients round the clock in areas where there is no access to health centres,” Ms. Rajneesh said, adding that patients can also call the 104 helpline.
Eliminating malaria
Although 71% of malaria cases in Karnataka are from Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, 21% cases are reported from north Karnataka districts of Bagalkot, Koppal, Kalaburagi, Gadag, Haveri, Raichur, Yadgir and Upper Krishna Project area, and the remaining 8% from other 21 districts, the State has set a goal of eliminating malaria by 2025.
In the wake of this, a No Objection Certificate (NOC) is mandatory for registration and renewal of any construction project on a site conducive to mosquito breeding. “Deputy commissioners have been directed to issue orders to fill up all abandoned quarries existing in and around villages,” she added.
100 children to undergo free bone marrow transplantation
The State government has identified 100 children aged below 10, who are suffering from thalassaemia and other genetic blood disorders, to undergo free bone marrow transplantation.
Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) Shalini Rajneesh told The Hindu that the surgeries will be performed with funding from the Union Health Ministry. They will all undergo surgery at Christian Medical College, Vellore, from next month, she said
Pulse Polio on April 2, 30
Bengaluru: The national pulse polio campaign in the State that was postponed due to the Measles Rubella vaccination campaign will now be conducted on April 2 and 30.
As many as 74.94 lakh children below five years will be covered under the campaign across the State. A total of 1,05,682 vaccinators will administer the vaccine.
