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Delhi

Vector-borne diseases: Govt intensifies campaign

With an aim to ensure the requisite number of beds patients affected by vector-borne diasease, the Delhi government's Health Department has decided to issue a final notice to the city's private hospitals.
Through the notice, the Department will ask hospitals to increase their fleet of beds by 10-20 per cent. Besides, the Department has also launched a public awareness campaign by installing hoardings all over the city and giving advertisements on radio and newspapers.
"The government is all set to combat dengue, chikungunya and malaria this year. Before the monsoon, the Department will issue the final notice to the private hospitals to increase the beds as directed by Health Minister Satyendar Jain," said a senior official of the Health department.
Jain, on June 23, ordered all private hospitals to increase their beds for the next six months to accommodate a higher number of dengue and chikungunya patients. According to the Health department, private hospitals have to follow the order from August 2017 to February 2018.
Speaking about the large scale awareness campaign, the official said that nearly 2,000 hoardings will be put all over Delhi by August to raise awareness among people. The Department has already started putting advertisements in newspapers and on FM radio channels.
"We will put these advertisements more frequently. We want to reach every citizen of Delhi before the monsoon," he said.
Talking about the government hospitals, the official said that all the government-run hospitals have already made special arrangements for patients suffering from these deadly diseases. After studying the reported cases, the Department concluded that this year the number of cases may increase in the monsoon season.
As per the order of the Health Minister, the Delhi government intensified continuous monitoring of 'over-the-counter' sale of non-steroidal anti-inflamatory drugs, such as Aspirin and Brufen. Earlier this year, Health Minister Jain had announced a ban of these medicines, as their use may pose a threat to the patients affected with vector-borne diseases.
According to the latest report published by the three MCDs, this year, till July 15, a total of 183 chikungunya cases were reported from all over Delhi. The total number of dengue cases were 150, noted the report. Malaria cases reached 225, with 49 cases reported this month – which is the all time highest. Till the last report, there have been no casualties reported due to either dengue, chikungunya or Malaria.
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