Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

Mosquito control plan for districts soon

MADURAI: The Government will soon come out with an action plan for mosquito control under the ‘Health is in our hands’ theme, which involves large-scale public participation. An exclusive meeting of malaria officers from districts is scheduled for January 25 in Chennai under the aegis of the Directorate of Public Health (DPH) to evolve a clean sanitation plan.

Health Department officials here told The Hindu on Sunday that the campaign would be aimed at implementing sanitation/environment-friendly measures and District Malaria Officers would be given guidelines on involving households in prevention of vector-borne diseases such as malaria.

P. Padmanaban, Director of Public Health, said that the ‘health is in our hands’ message would be carried to the people since their participation was essential in eradicating mosquito breeding sources.

“Fogging alone is not sufficient for mosquito control. Every home must plug septic tank leaks and avoid water logging,” Dr. Padmanaban said.

A campaign would be launched to create awareness that public health was everyone’s responsibility, he said.

The Government would organise a meeting on ‘pandemic preparedness” on January 22 to meet the threat of avian influenza outbreak, which hit West Bengal. According to S. Elango, Additional Director of Public Health, officials would chalk out a comprehensive plan for bird flu-endemic districts including Dindigul, Salem, Namakkal and Coimbatore.

“This action plan is in anticipation of an outbreak and the preparedness of the health machinery if human infection occurs and on how to safeguard poultry,” Dr.Elango said.

The meeting is being organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to issue guidelines on preventing human influenza.

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