Of the 31 cases, 22 were reported in Bangalore, three in Udupi, two in Bellary and one each in Tumkur, Shimoga, Bagalkot and Gulbarga.
Addressing reporters on Tuesday, he said that the department had also recorded two dengue deaths in Gadag and Dakshina Kannada this year. The Minister, who held a review meeting with all the district health officers, said that he had given them directions to ensure all measures were taken so that deaths due to communicable diseases were mitigated.
He said that there was no shortage of funds and that the department would focus on tackling mosquito menace, conducting house to house surveys and improving sanitation in all districts.
This year, the department has received 664 confirmed cases of malaria, 102 dengue cases and 64 chikungunya cases. Last year, there were 11 malaria deaths out of the 7,674 confirmed cases; seven dengue deaths out of 2,285 cases; 1,430 chikungunya cases and 120 H1N1 deaths out of 2,552 confirmed cases.
Sriramulu said that the ‘108’ ambulance services launched under Arogya Kavacha was a big success. As many as 3.5 crore people had utilised this service, out of which 41 per cent were pregnancy cases and eight lakh emergency cases. Sriramulu said that the lives of around 10 lakh people had been saved thanks to the service.
He said around 600 specialists would be joining work in a month and a half. The Minister will write to all the deputy commissioners within 15 days, asking them to directly recruit MBBS doctors to fill up the seven per cent vacancies.
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