TIRUPATI: Minister for Health K.Rosaiah said that chikun gunya is not a killer disease and would soon vanish.

In a brief interaction with the mediapersons here on Wednesday en route to Chittoor to launch a mega private health camp, the Health Minister asserted that the disease after showing signs of prevalence in Chittoor, Cuddapah and Kurnool during the first quarter of the year was now on the wane since April, 15. "It will soon vanish," he said and people were unnecessarily scared over the disease. So long as they adhered to the dos and don'ts prescribed by the Department of Health, the public need not be worried about anything, he said.

He then went on to give a brief profile about chikun gunya's origin and disclosed that the epidemic first broke-out in Tanzania way back in 1953, a year later in West Bengal, then in the year 1965 in Tamil Nadu and now after a gap of four decades in some pockets of Andhra Pradesh. Giving some statistics, the Health Minister said that the survey conducted has indicated that in all 4,412 people - 2,523 in the rural areas and 1,889 in the urban areas were affected by the disease in the State.

He also recalled the recent tour of the central team in this connection in the affected areas at the instance of the Tirupati MP Dr. Chintha Mohan to evaluate the status of the epidemic and also to appraise the people of the precautions to be taken to keep the mosquitoes and the disease at bay.

He claimed that as much as Rs.7.5 crores had been released by the State Government for the purchase of medicines to treat the disease besides providing Rs.3 lakhs each to the DM&HOs concerned for use in any emergency.

He had a soothing word for the farmers too. He sought to drive it home to them that if the government insisted on the capacitors for their agricultural pump-sets, it was only in their interest and in the interest of their motors and electricity bills.

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