VASCO: Dengue cases are being reported in the port town in recent times and the Urban Health Centre (UHC) has sought public participation to control the disease.
Vasco UHC in charge Dr Paresh Lawande informed reporters that there were no Malaria cases in the jurisdiction.
Dengue cases prevalent in Vasco due to monsoons
"Malaria is not prevalent in Vasco but dengue cases are being reported due to monsoons, causing stagnation of water. The basic issue of Vasco is the irregular water supply which prompts people to store water in barrels, subsequently leading to the breeding of mosquitoes. People must take care that water must not be stored for over one week or allowed to stagnate for over seven days," said Dr Lawande.
"There may be people who go to private labs to test for dengue but our staff goes to these labs and collect the data, or the labs inform us on any cases and we take actions accordingly.”
Dr Lawande sought to emphasise that the UHC has been getting cases of NS1 which are not confirmed but cases of suspected dengue.
“While we had a huge outbreak of dengue earlier, it is comparatively less last year and this year," Dr Lawande said.
"We are continuously having awareness camps through staff, health educators and our doctors are also visiting anganwadis and schools to deliver talks. We also carry out fumigation and fogging in a particular area only if a positive case is detected.”
“However, fogging is only effective for adult mosquitoes, but our primary target is that we must not allow the formation of adult mosquitoes at all by clearing the breeding sites and acting at a larval stage. We are, therefore, spraying in water stagnation in every part of the jurisdiction to clear any breeding at its initial stage," said Dr Lawande.
Dr Lawande said the UHC had also undertaken an awareness drive at Kharewaddo Jetty.
"We have even written letters to fishermen to either cover their canoes or to keep them upside down after their fishing season is over. We are also taking drives on tyres attached to canoes so that water does not stagnate.”
Pramod Lawande seeks public participation
“We, however, seek public participation which is most important in this issue because without public precautions, the health department’s efforts are not enough. We are getting support from the public and also from MMC councillors who take our staff to their wards.”
“We also get support from MLAs who are giving us vehicles and workers during our drives. Public participation is the most important aspect in case we need to control dengue cases in Vasco," said Dr Lawande.
