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Public Health / Sanitation

malaria control steps to be intensified

Thursday, 07 January 2010 08:19 administrator
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The New Indian Express 07.01.2010

malaria control steps to be intensified

Express News Service

 

BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has set itself an ambitious target of reducing the malaria prevalence rate to 4 per cent in the next five years. It also gave itself time till 2015 to eliminate filariasis from the State. At the State-level Task Force meeting, chaired by Health and Family Welfare Minister Prasanna Acharya, it was also decided to intensify control measures by roping in village welfare committees and SHGs. Malaria has remained a public health problem for the State for last several decades and Orissa reports one of India’s highest mortality and falciparum plasmodium rates in India. However, the death rate has shown a declining trend lately. In 2002, Orissa reported 25 per cent malaria cases and 48 per cent deaths. By July last year, the country showed a six per cent rise in prevalence rate and 26 per cent rise of the deaths caused by the disease. However, Orissa had reportedly witnessed a decline - its prevalence rate is now 8 per cent while mortality stands at 15 per cent. Although both the PR and the casualty rates have dropped, Acharya said, the scenario looks daunting in the State because the detection rate has improved. However, the rates are higher than the national average which calls for more focussed intervention. With a large number of districts reporting resistance to chloroquin, the Government has started using second line drugs to the affected population. The State Government which has launched a Mo Masari programme to distribute medicated mosquito nets has decided to make village as a unit for disbursal of the nets. The VWCs and SGHs will be asked to keep a watch on the scheme, Acharya said.

 

Civic body charts grand canal-cleaning project

Wednesday, 06 January 2010 11:45 administrator
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The Times of India 06.01.2010

Civic body charts grand canal-cleaning project

TNN 6 January 2010, 04:51am IST

KOLKATA: The civic body is finally taking up the job of cleaning the city’s canals so that water from the Hooghly can be flown into Rajarhat through these and supplied as drinking water after treatment.

Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will start work to divert all sewer lines that fall into the canals, starting from the Chitpore lock gate to EM Bypass. KMC, along with Hidco and KMDA, is embarking on this major project. Work is expected to be completed by May or June.

A meeting was recently held by officials of the KMC, the irrigation department, the KMDA and Hidco to discuss the project. “The sewer lines that fall into the canals will have to be diverted. Hidco will pay around Rs 3 crore for the project. Work will start soon and is expected to be completed by mid-2010.” said Hidco technical adviser Sadhan Biswas.

Hidco has been working on plans to flow in water from the Hooghly through this stretch of canals. The water would be purified at a treatment plant in New Town before being supplied to residents for drinking purposes.
Earlier, Hidco had provided Bidhannagar Municipality with Rs 2 crore to work on diverting the sewer lines that fall into Kestopur canal. Though the civic body has diverted the major part of the sewer lines, some work is still left. It would take at least another year, if not more, to flow in the river water again once all the sewer lines are diverted.

The objective to divert the sewer lines is not only to keep the canals clean, but also free them of the pressure of excess water. During monsoons, the water level rises and often leads to waterlogging. “We are also expecting to re-launch the ferry service once the river water starts flowing in,” said a Hidco official.

Government agencies had earlier conducted desilting and dredging work in Kestopur and Beliaghata canals but after a few months, they were again full of hyacinths and filthy water. Now, a Rs 40-crore plan has been finalised to dredge the 8-km-long stretch of Beliaghata canal, say officials.
 

BBMP gears up for battle against ailments

Wednesday, 06 January 2010 10:25 administrator
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The New Indian Express 06.01.2010

BBMP gears up for battle against ailments

Luna Dewan


BANGALORE: Working on the lines of the initiative of the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare Services, the BBMP Health Department is all set to launch its Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) by March-end.

“Through this project, we hope to establish a decentralized state-based system of surveillance for communicable and non-communicable diseases, so that timely and effective public health actions can be initiated accordingly,” said Dr Nagaraj, BBMP health officer, South Bangalore and project coordinator, IDSP.

“The project is basically aimed to know the exact cause of the disease, likely time of its occurrence and develop ways and means to control the disease,” Dr Nagaraj added.

He told Express, “Everything has been finalised. We are done with the setting up of infrastructure. Forty six centres will be set up in selected BBMP maternity homes and health centres.

Computers for the centres have arrived.

A totally new wing of data entry operators to work in these centres will be appointed through outsourcing in a few days,” he said.

One training programme for the doctors working in these centres have already been conducted by the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare.

Besides, the female medical officers, doctors from the centres and the field workers will be briefed about the functioning in two sittings.

Communicable diseases like malaria, cholera, typhoid, dengue, chikungunya and the recent H1N1 influenza which hit the city, and other non-communicable diseases like hypertension and diabetes which have been growing rapidly, are among the few diseases which will be covered under the IDSP. “Besides, we are also working to improve and upgrade the laboratory support for existing disease surveillance activities and facilitate sharing of relevant information with the health administration,” he added.

On the project, Dr L T Gayatri Devi, Chief Health Officer, BBMP, said: “All the equipment required for the centres have been procured. We will begin the project soon.”

How the system works

Under this project, the field workers will be given a printed format about how to collect the data.

The field workers will be collecting the information from the particular area about the diseases most prevalent in the area and report it to the nearest IDSP centres.

The centres in turn will have to compile the data of diseases and submit the report to the nodal office located at the BBMP-run Pobatty Maternity Home, Sajjanrao Circle, where evaluation of the trend of the disease will be done. Accordingly, action to control the disease will be taken.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 06 January 2010 10:27
 
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