Dengue: K'taka Govt's efforts pays off

Udupi, Nov 6 (UNI) The precautionary measures taken by the Karnataka Government to check the spread of the deadly Dengue fever have paid off, with not a single case being reported in the last one month, Health and Family Welfare Department Chief Secretary Usha Ganesh said today.

Addressing a press conference after chairing a review meeting here, she said 59 cases of dengue fever have been detected and two deaths reported from January last. There was no case of chikungunya or dengue in the district and even the two dengue cases reported were found to be negative. The State Government had released a grant of Rs eight crore for the treatment of dengue and chikungunya.

Ms Ganesh said Udupi stood first among all districts in the State in terms of three indicators of health - infant mortality rate(IMR), maternity mortality rate (MMR) and institutional delivery. IMR in the district was five per cent as against the State average of eight per cent and the MMR was 65 per one lakh and institutional delivery was as high as 96 per cent as against the State average of 60 per cent. The health care system in the district was 'satisfactory' compared to other districts. However, there was scope for achieving 100 per cent in all the three indicators, she added.

She said 500 cases of malaria have been detected in the district since January this year. She had directed the health officials to create awareness among the public about the precautions to be taken against malaria both in rural and urban areas. Once the proposed National Urban Health Mission was launched like National Rural Health Mission, grants could be availed to take up awareness campaigns and treatment in urban areas, she added.

The official said that under Janani Suraksha Yojna, Rs 27 lakh had been released to the district to benefit 2,750 pregnant women belonging to below poverty line families. Another Rs ten lakh would be sanctioned soon to benefit 1,500 pregnant women.

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