Public Health / Sanitation

Is there a link between water supply & dengue?

Monday, 18 July 2016 06:38 administrator

The Hindu 18.07.2016

Is there a link between water supply & dengue?

Is there a co-relationship between irregular water supply and outbreak of dengue? The District Health Office thinks so and has urged the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) to ensure regular water supply to certain localities to remove the need to store it as it could lead to breeding of mosquitoes and outbreak of dengue.

Senior officials in the Health Department told The Hindu that one of the factors for the rise in dengue cases in the city could be attributed to the storage of water in large but open containers due to irregular supply.

“Citizens are forced to store water in plastic vessels, cement tubs and in various other containers and these containers have become a breeding place for mosquitoes,” said the officials.

Department officials, who went around the city educating people about the dos and don’ts and the imperatives of reducing water storage, were told of the practical difficulties faced by them as water supply is irregular.

“People ask us to supply drinking water every day if they have to stop storing the water in containers such as plastic vessels and cement tubs,” the official added.

S. Chidambara, District Vector Borne diseases control officer, told The Hindu that the practice of storing water was widely prevalent in Hebbal, Shanthinagar, Kalyanagiri, Udayagiri, Ghousia Nagar etc. which, incidentally, are also the places which are susceptible to the outbreak of dengue.

Meanwhile, the Health department had written to the MCC to supply water particularly to these areas on alternative days at least till September as the chances of outbreak of epidemiology diseases would be high during the interim period.

The Health Department said that it would be difficult to prevent the spread of the disease until regular water supply is ensured.

CMC warns shopkeepers against selling banned plastic items

Monday, 11 July 2016 07:10 administrator

The Hindu 11.07.2016

CMC warns shopkeepers against selling banned plastic items

A file photo of Mandya City Municipal Council officials conducting a raid on a shop to check the use and sale of banned plastic items.

The Mandya City Municipal Council (CMC) has resorted to initiating stringent action against those who sell or issue banned plastic material to public in the town.

For the past several weeks, the civic body has been raiding shops in the town to seize such banned items.

Despite the ban, several shopkeepers continue to sell and use banned plastic material on a large scale across the town, a senior City Municipal Council official told The Hindu here on Sunday.

The sale of non-biodegradable plastic carry bags, posters, flex, flags and other publicity items, spoons, cups, plates, tumblers, sheets and other items is an offence according to the State government’s recent order, he added.

Penalty

The City Municipal Council has decided to initiate legal action against those who violate the ban orders under certain provisions of the Manufacture Usage and Waste Management Rules, 2009 and Plastic Waste Management and Handling Amendment Rules, 2011.

A penalty of up to Rs. 5,000 will be imposed besides filing criminal cases against shopkeepers for stocking, selling or issuing plastic material, the official added.

For further details regarding the ban, shopkeepers can contact 080-23108108 or 18004253795, the City Municipal Council official added.

‘A penalty will be imposed on shopkeepers for stocking or selling banned plastic items’

BMC’s TB, malaria death figures inconsistent, RTI query reveals

Friday, 08 July 2016 09:06 administrator

The Hindu 08.07.2016

BMC’s TB, malaria death figures inconsistent, RTI query reveals

Number of death certificates citing TB and malaria as causes far more than cases recorded by civic surveillance cells

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) reply to an RTI query filed by city-based NGO Praja Foundation has revealed discrepancies in the number of deaths due to tuberculosis and malaria recorded by the civic body, and the death certificates it has issued citing these diseases as cause of death.

Members of the Praja Foundation, which released its annual ‘State of Health of Mumbai’ report on Thursday, said the figures reflected the civic body’s failure in collecting data from private health facilities to arrive at the real burden of disease and coming up with appropriate strategies to tackle the problem.

Using the RTI Act, the NGO found that for instance, the BMC’s TB Control Unit recorded 1,459 deaths in 2015 but TB was given as the cause of death in 5,680 death certificates issued by the civic body. Similarly, a wide gap was noticed between the malaria deaths recorded by the civic health department’s Malaria Surveillance Report and the number of death certificates issued citing malaria as the cause of death.

The NGO said it had conducted a survey of over 25,000 households and found that around 34 per cent used government health facilities. Its members said BMC relies solely on data from civic hospitals and dispensaries, while ignoring patients who opt for private medical facilities.

Also, they said, the BMC’s figures have remained more or less consistent over the years, and reflect in its strategy to battle the diseases. Milind Mhaske of Praja Foundation said interventions to tackle these diseases would have been more focussed if data from non-BMC health facilities had been factored in as well.

The NGO found that most malaria, tuberculosis and dengue deaths were in the productive age group of 20 to 59. However, the issue wasn’t raised in the assembly by MLAs including members of the public health committee.

The Praja Foundation has sought a verbal autopsy (a research method involving interviews of families of the deceased). “This is an essential tool to understand the cause of death, and should be undertaken seriously,” the report notes.

A verbal autopsy by BMC in 2015 notes 7,090 TB-related deaths in 2014, while the TB Control Unit had recorded only 1,315 deaths.

Despite repeated attempts, BMC executive health officer Dr. Padmaja Keskar and other senior civic health officials were not available for comment.

The TB Control Unit recorded 1,459 deaths in 2015, but TB was the cause of death in 5,680 death certificates

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