PIONEER NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
To mitigate the occurrence of dengue after more than two dozen cases were reported in Dehradun district, the Health department has prepared an action plan set to begin in May. This year’s early emergence of dengue cases has raised concerns among residents, healthcare professionals and relevant departments. To address these issues and avert future dengue incidents, the health department is moving forward with its action plan.
Informing about this, the additional chief medical officer of Dehradun and the district surveillance officer Dr CS Rawat said that the department has developed an action plan aimed at dengue prevention that will start in May. He said that the initiative will involve approximately 651 Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) in Dehradun and 40 in Rishikesh, who will conduct surveys in their respective wards—100 in Dehradun and 40 in Rishikesh. During these surveys, the assigned ASHAs will inspect for mosquito larvae, promote awareness and communicate dengue prevention details to the residents.
In addition, the action plan stipulates that, besides the ASHAs, 100 volunteers for Dehradun and 40 for the Rishikesh area will engage in raising awareness and inspecting for larvae within their assigned wards. These volunteers are also tasked with submitting their findings to the ASHA facilitator, who will then relay the information to the relevant department. Should any larvae be detected in the reports from the volunteers or during inspections conducted by ASHAs, larvicidal treatment and fogging will be carried out in those locations. He also informed that they are responsible for fogging inside residences, while the municipal corporation of Dehradun manages fogging outside. Additionally, regular fogging operations are already in progress.
He said that the ASHA facilitator will hire the volunteers in accordance with the district magistrate’s directives. To qualify, volunteers must reside in the respective ward, have completed at least class X and own a smartphone. He also provided information that guidelines for dengue prevention have been issued to the concerned departments. He also emphasised that to tackle the cases of dengue, society and the line department should come together and work coordinately.
