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All help to tackle encephalitis: Minister

Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss visits affected areas; surveillance centre to be set up

GORAKHPUR: The Centre on Thursday assured the Uttar Pradesh Government of providing all necessary help to tackle the outbreak of Encephalitis in the State and would set up a surveillance centre here with the help of WHO to monitor the spread of the deadly disease.

``There is no dearth of funds and the Centre would provide whatever demand would be placed by State Government,'' Union Health Minister Ambumami Ramadoss said here after a visit to the affected areas where the disease has claimed over 356 lives within a month.

The Centre would provide whatever help was needed in the form of money, equipment and manpower to cope with the fever, which had acquired epidemic proportions, the Minister said, after a meeting with senior health officials of the State Government. The UP Development Council Chairman and Samajwadi general secretary Amar Singh was also present on the occasion.

Later talking to media persons at BRD Medical College where hundreds of patients are undergoing treatment, he said the Centre would formulate the short and long term strategy to curb the disease. While fogging in affected areas, segregation of piggeries from human population and distribution of medicated mosquito nets were among the short-term steps, he said mass awareness campaign, mass vaccination and monitoring the spread of disease were among long-term measures to be adopted. The Centre with the help of World Health Organisation and State Government would also establish a surveillance office here to monitor the spread of the disease, he said.

Meanwhile, the Centre has dispatched two lakh mosquito nets to the encephalitis affected parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh to prevent the spread of the disease, a senior official said here.

The nets have been sprayed with insecticides and are meant for people living below the poverty line, especially families with children below 14 years of age, Director General Health Central Government P L Joshi said.

The first consignment of the nets have reached here and the task of distributing them has been entrusted with the district administration, he said.

Director General Health, Uttar Pradesh, O P Singh said water-logging due to intermittent rains in some areas had led to the breeding of mosquitoes leading to the spread of the disease.

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All help to tackle encephalitis: Minister

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