KOCHI:‘Epidemic awareness’ seems to have succeeded in the city with lesser number of mosquito borne diseases being reported this year than in 2017. Dengue fever, malaria, typhoid, gastrointestinal diseases, rat fever and jaundice show a considerable drop in numbers.
Last year, in the four-month period from January 1 to April 26, 35 people had confirmed dengue fever, which came down to six this year. While 330 people consulted hospitals with fever and similar diseases last year, it has now come down to 123 cases. Rat fever cases dropped from 20 to five and Hepatitis A cases fell from 63 to 12. While 136 suspected cases of jaundice were reported last year, it came down to 98 so far this year.
“The fall can be attributed to the epidemic awareness programmes organised as part of the Ardram Mission,” said Dr N K Kuttappan, the district medical officer.“Taking into consideration the huge number of mosquito borne diseases reported in 2017, this time, the awareness programmes were arranged to be held throughout the year rather than in the short period before the rainy season and were organised with the maximum public participation. Each person should contribute to getting rid of mosquitoes from their localities.
Each person should focus on maintaining the cleanliness of their own houses and the localities they live in. We will further strengthen the health awareness programmes with the help of ward members.”Each ward was given Rs 10,000 each from the National Health Fund to create awareness among people. Campaigns, workshops and other forms of publicity were used to get the message across to the common people. Almost all social groups, including health workers, ‘harita karma sena’, NGOs, residents’ associations, government departments - including Education, Fisheries and Social Justice - and missions, including Suchitwa Mission and Haritha Kerala Mission cooperated with the efforts.