The Hindu 06.11.2009

Hi-tech fogging machine to check contagious diseases

Staff Reporter

DINDIGUL: To combat chickengunya, dengue, brain fever and other communicable diseases and to kill mosquitoes, The Department of Health Services has imported a fogging machine from the US for spraying chemicals in the air in urban and rural areas.

Launching the machine here on Thursday, Collector M. Vallalar said the dyna-fog, a truck mounted thermal fogging machine, was suitable to treat large areas. The total cost of the equipment was Rs.12 lakh, including the machine cost of Rs.8.5 lakh and the vehicle cost of Rs.3.5 lakh. It has twin resonant pulse jet engines to give greater output of chemicals. Fog sprayed from the machine would go up to a height of 30 feet to kill mosquitoes. Droplets of 10-20 microns in the fog were the most efficient droplet size for controlling adult mosquitoes.

Effective fogging would kill all adult female mosquitoes as those only bite human beings. Fogging should be done either in the early morning or late in the evening because these mosquitoes were very active during these periods. It would be more effective when the wind conditions were calm and the temperatures were neither extremely hot nor cold, he added.

Deputy Director of Health Services A. Jagadeesh Kumar said that 114 litres of diesel, six litres of pyrethrum and 10 litres of petrol would be blended to generate fog to kill mosquitoes in an area that has a population of 12,000. The cost of fogging for an hour would be Rs.8,432.

To begin with, town panchayat and municipalities in the district would be covered. Later, it would be used in panchayats. This machine was supplied to nine out of 40 zones in the State.

The Hindu 05.11.2009

8 urban PHCs likely to come up

Special Correspondent

VELLORE: Urban Primary Health Centres (PHCs) on the pattern of rural PHCs are likely to come up in four municipalities in Vellore district. They include Arakkonam, Walajapet, Ranipet and Arcot in Vellore Health Unit District. Four more are likely to come up at Gudiyatham, Ambur, Vaniyambadi and Tirupattur in Tirupattur Health Unit District.

This is based on the decision of the State government to set up urban PHCs in municipalities having a population of less than one lakh.

Urban Health Posts (UHPs) are functioning in municipalities having a population of more than one lakh.

According to an official of the Health Department, the UHPs were sanctioned for major municipalities under India Population Project-5.

Thanks to these UHPs, health infrastructure of major municipalities (having a population of more than one lakh) was good, whereas it was poor in municipalities having a population of less than one lakh.

Therefore, the government decided to set up urban PHCs in all municipalities having a population of less than one lakh in Tamil Nadu.

Announcement

An announcement was made by Health Minister M.R.K. Panneerselvam in the Assembly.

K.S.T. Suresh, Deputy Director of Health Services (DDHS), Vellore, told The Hindu that the office of the DDHS has submitted a proposal for setting up urban PHCs in Arakkonam, Walajapet, Ranipet and Arcot. These urban PHCs, to be set up under the funds provided through the National Rural Health Mission, would follow the same staff pattern as the rural PHC - a medical officer, a staff nurse, a pharmacist, an auxiliary nursing midwife, a laboratory technician, a hospital worker and three contractual nurses.

Premkumar, DDHS, Tirupattur, said that while no proposal has been sent by his office, urban PHCs are expected to be set up in Tirupattur, Ambur, Vaniyambadi and Gudiyatham municipalities, based on the government’s norm for urban PHCs.

The official government order is awaited for the establishment, he said.