People at Rafi Nagar in Govandi where the measles outbreak took place are living in miserable conditions. The family of the deceased and neighbours complain about the civic body and local politicians not doing their job. Meanwhile, the team from Delhi arrived and got briefed by an additional chief secretary, with a plan to visit the area today.
Shaheen Khan – the mother of Fazal who succumbed to the infection – said they are living in very pathetic conditions due to which there are many mosquito breeding sites that are causing many diseases. Moreover, none of the civic officials or the pest control department pays any visits to their area for fogging or cleaning the water.
“We have no electricity or water. The BMC doesn't even come for sewage management and we have to do it on our own. No one comes to collect our garbage. We are living in pathetic conditions and our children are constantly getting ill. No one comes to help us as we are poor. I lost my son and now I'm three months pregnant. I don't want any further investigations. When my son had a fever, no one approached us but after his death, everyone is approaching us to hog the limelight. When he was admitted to Rajawadi Hospital and needed to be admitted to the ICU there were no beds available and not even an ambulance to shift him to another hospital. I don't want this to happen to any other mother,” she said.
Principal Secretary (Health), Sanjay Khandare said they had a meeting with the team from the centre and briefed it about the measles situation. Following this, several measures have been planned and the process of execution has already begun.
“The centre team will be conducting a study and will be taking stock of the measles situation in Govandi. Moreover, we will be spreading awareness related to measles across the city. Meanwhile, we will also be finding the root cause of this spread,” he said.
BMC's executive health officer Dr Mangala Gomare said “We have provided all the information to the team who will be visiting the Govandi area and a few hospitals today (November 12) to take the stock of the situation. Moreover, they will also check the status of immunisation and why people are reluctant to take get a vaccine,” she said.
On Friday a total of 789 houses were surveyed in Rafi Nagar, of which 3,670 persons were screened and 23 were found with fever and rashes.
Additional immunisation camps (five) were conducted on Friday to cover the left-outs and dropouts in the whole health post area. A total of 110 children and six pregnant women were immunised. Apart from that, vitamin A is being administered to those suspected of having the infection.
Moreover, civic staff have been instructed to conduct a door-to-door survey of 3,000 houses in Rafi Nagar for the next 10 days and screen everyone. This comes after the city slums witnessed an outbreak of measles and rubella cases. Health officials said they have asked for a focus on vaccination camps and to check for measles vaccine status.
“We have taken several measures which include screening, survey and vaccination. We have also instructed them to give vitamin A drops to the suspected measles patients. Moreover, we have asked them to track vaccine dropout children and create awareness through different modes of communication,” he said.
