The Hindu 11.11.2013
Dengue prevention: 610 mazdoors appointed in rural Coimbatore
As many as 610 domestic breeding checkers or mazdoors
are being appointed in the town and village panchayats of Coimbatore to
prevent the spread of dengue during the North East Monsoon season.
S. Somasundaram, Deputy Director of Health Services, told
The Hindu
that the Department of Public Health would train the mazdoors in undertaking breeding source reduction activities.
A
total of 370 workers have been appointed in 37 town panchayats, with 10
for each town panchayat, during the first week of November. The village
panchayats have begun the recruitment process and are expected to
complete the process within a week or so. The 229 Village Panchayats in
Coimbatore district have been divided into 12 blocks with 20 mazdoors to
be deployed per block.
The mazdoors would be tasked
with carrying out mass cleaning campaign in the backyards of houses to
remove old utensils and worn-out tyres. Accumulation of rainwater in
tyres provides breeding space to both Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that
carry the dengue-causing virus and Aedes albopictus that spreads the
chikungunya virus.
An interpersonal communication campaign was also under way in rural areas to create awareness about dengue prevention measures.
The
Deputy Director said that the number of dengue cases in Coimbatore
district was lower this year compared to the preceding year, and no
dengue-related fatality has been reported so far.
The
Coimbatore Corporation had also been directed to engage more mazdoors
to conform to the population-mazdoor ratio mandated by the State
Government.
Further, Dr. Somasundaram said that no A (H1N1) flu cases, or chikungunya cases had been reported in Coimbatore district so far.