GUWAHATI: The Commissioner and Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department of Assam Government, Monalisa Goswami on Friday reviewed actions taken by the District Task Force in combating Japanese Encephalitis in the vulnerable district of Sivasagar.
In a review meeting held in presence of the Deputy Commissioner Dr. S Lakshmanan, in Sivasagar, the Commissioner and Secretary while taking stock of the status and measures initiated towards prevention and treatment of Japanese Encephalitis in the district, stressed on coordinated efforts of the district administration, district health department as well as all the line departments in mitigating the disease.
She also emphasised on focusing more on preventive measures and creating mass awareness about the disease. She also advised to devise a more effective strategy in combatting the disease.
The Deputy Commissioner Dr. S Lakshmanan apprised the Commissioner and Secretary in depth about the rigorous measures carried out by the Task Force in this regard, such as: early detection, vaccination of children and adults, fogging, bed-net impregnation, treatment of the patients and awareness drives etc.
The Joint Director of Health Services Dr. Ripun Borpujari through a power point presentation gave an insight on the status of Japanese Encephalitis and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome from 2014 to 2019 in the district and the strategies adopted for combating the issue. He stressed on looking out for the children who took births in 2007 to 2011 and were left out from being vaccinated in both pilots in 2006 and 2011.
As per the report during 2019, the figure was slashed down So far this year, 34 cases of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome and 16 Japanese Encephalitis cases have been detected in the district. There has been one case of death reported due to Japanese Encephalitis in the district till date this year.
It may be mentioned that 128 cases of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome and 64 cases of Japanese Encephalitis were detected in the district in the year 2014.