Kerala - Pathanamthitta   

More doctors to tackle viral fever

Staff Reporter

Rs. 5 lakh for vector control

PATHANAMTHITTA: District Collector Ashok Kumar Singh has stressed the "grave need for collective efforts" by the official machinery, local bodies and the public to contain the fast-spreading viral fever in the district. The Collector was addressing an inter-sector meeting of district-level departmental heads, local-body authorities and rubber planters in the affected areas at the Collectorate conference hall on Tuesday.

Mr. Singh said the Directorate of Health Services had posted 10 doctors to the Pathanamthitta General Hospital and various primary health centres in affected areas.

Seventeen nursing assistants would be recruited temporarily to address the acute shortage of such staff at the district hospital, general hospital and other Government health-care centres. The Government sanctioned Rs. 5 lakh on Tuesday for carrying out a vector-control drive in the district.

The Collector called a meeting of office-bearers of hospital development societies in the district on May 24 to discuss the vector-control measures and disease-prevention steps to be initiated at health-care centres.

Rainwater collected in coconut shells used for collecting latex at rubber plantations and abandoned plastic cans were safe breeding places of mosquitoes in the affected areas of Chittar, Seethathode, Vechoochira, Naranammoozhy, Ranni-Perinad, Koodal and so on.

Plea to planters

The Collector called upon rubber planters to take urgent steps to remove water from the coconut shells and plastic cans and keep them inverted after draining out latex. The civic bodies in the district were asked to give special emphasis on sanitation, waste disposal and drainage clearing works.

Joint Director of Agriculture C. Chandran was directed to initiate a rodent- control plan for Pathanamthitta, Adoor and Thiruvalla municipalities and pineapple farms on a war footing.

The Public Works Department had been asked to clean up the drainages on either side of roads. K. Sivadasan Nair, MLA, District Medical Officer N. Damodaran and a representative of the Rubber Board attended the meeting.

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