The Japanese Encephalitis (JE) outbreak in Odisha’s Malkangiri district has caught the Naveen Patnaik Government napping. At least 48 children, most of them between two and eight, have died in the district in a little over a month. Jolted out of its slumber, the administration isolated pigs which host the JE virus and undertook vector control measures, but to no avail. Despite rushing in specialists, paramedics and logistics support, the death count keeps climbing.
Caused by a group of fl avivirus related to West Nile viruses, dengue and yellow fever, JE is not new to the State. The fi rst major outbreak was reported in 2012 when 38 children died in the same district. Though the Regional Medical Research Centre raised an alarm, the BJD Government paid no heed.
JE is endemic to West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Assam and some southern states, but since Odisha was not on the list, a routine vaccination programme was not initiated. It was only in July that the Centre accepted the State’s request for vaccination.
But the tragic deaths could well have been avoided had the State initiated simple measures like ensuring hygienic conditions,regular health screening, vector control measures and awareness campaigns. The outbreak has exposed the appalling health care service in backward districts. Plagued by huge shortage of doctors and lack of basic amenities, Malkangiri is only symptomatic of monumental neglect. The Government is now waiting for the JE transmission cycle to end, so that vaccination can start in December. The need of the hour is to chart out a robust post-treatment plan for children who have survived the attack because JE leaves behind neurological disabilities, deafness, and behavioural disorder for life. Giving children a disease-free healthy life is the fundamental duty of any Government and Naveen must come up with an action-plan for future so that history does not repeat itself.