Diarrhoea control fortnight commences in Coimbatore

Mayor P. Rajkumar administering oral rehydration solution to a girl to mark the inauguration of the Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight at the Seethalakshmi Maternity Home in the city on Monday. Corporation Commissioner Vijayakarthikeyan is in the picture.—Photo: S. Siva Saravanan

The ‘Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight’ programme, which targeted 2.83 children below five years of age in Coimbatore was launched on Monday.

District Collector Archana Patnaik led the campaign at a primary health centre in Thudiyalur. Coimbatore South MLA R. Duraisamy took part in the campaign held at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital. Elected representatives led the campaign in their respective constituencies across the district.

According to S. Somasundaram, Deputy Director of Health Services, this was part of a Central Government campaign, which will continue till August 8, to eliminate diarrhoea-related deaths of children.

Awareness drive

Health workers will create mass awareness about the low-cost diarrhoea treatment of administering a combination of Oral Rehydration Salt (ORS) solution and zinc tablets, which would also be distributed free of cost.

Besides the CMCH, he said that the campaign was also underway in all the 58 PHCs, 328 health sub-centres and nine Government hospitals in the district.

Further, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), a Central Government-sponsored social welfare scheme, has also been roped in. The ICDS operated as many as 1,697 anganwadis in the district.

In the second week of the campaign, anganwadi workers will take up a survey to identify children affected by malnutrition. They would be given nutritious food and their mothers would be counselled on breast feeding. The village health nurses are going to conduct awareness programmes at health sub-centres. Proper breast feeding must be done for six months and supplementary diets with nutritious food must commence in the seventh month.

Mayor P. Rajkumar launched the State Government’sprogramme at the Seethalakshmi Maternity Centre in the city by administering oral rehydration solution to children. In the presence of Commissioner K. Vijayakarthikeyan, the Mayor administered the solution to a few children to kick start the programme, which will go on till August 8.

During the fortnight, the Corporation would not only make the ORS available at all its 20 urban health centres, but also distribute them to families that have children. Urban health nurses will distribute the packets along with zinc tablets, which is expected to reduce intestine mobility.

Sources say the programme is part of the Government’s efforts to reduce infant mortality.