VIJAYAWADA: The number of dengue cases has increased by 70 per cent in the first eight months of 2018 compared to corresponding period in 2017, reveal official documents. Out of the total 2,764 dengue cases, 70 per cent of them are from Visakhapatnam district.Though Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu claimed the State government had succeeded in controlling diseases, BJP and TDP members underlined the need to take effective steps to check dengue, malaria and other vector-borne diseases.
BJP floor leader P Vishnu Kumar Raju alleged that the government had failed in the fight against mosquitoes (Domalapai Dandayatra) and asked the Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to admit the fact.
“Of course, the Chief Minister has succeeded in slinging mud on the BJP, but has come a cropper in his government’s fight against mosquitoes,’’ he said.
Stating that his son was suffering from high fever, he said the spread of dengue is alarming, particularly in Visakhapatnam. He asked Naidu to visit the city to see the state of affairs in King George Hospital for himself. TDP MLA from Vizianagaram K Appala Naidu said he has been hospitalised due to fever. “While visiting villages during ‘Grama Darshini’ programme, I was aghast to know that there are one or two dengue patients in every house,’’ he said.
Replying on the seasonal diseases debate in the Assembly on Tuesday, Ramakrishnudu said the government was giving priority to healthcare. Seeking to know how the BJP members can say the government has failed in its fight against mosquitoes, he wanted to know whether they had any data on mosquitoes. On scarcity of doctors, he said the problem arose because specialist doctors prefer private hospitals. “In this regard, we have issued orders to increase the wages in government hospitals,” he added.