Dengue, chikungunya cases on rise in 'clean city'

281 cases of dengue are reported in Mysuru from Jan-Sept, 2016

The city has earned the ‘Clean City’ tag, on various parameters, three times in a row in less than an year. But the cases of dengue and chikungunya are on the rise in the city, compared to Mysuru rural.

The Health department had collected blood samples of 1,899 people in the district to check for dengue. Of which, 454 people tested positive for dengue while 124 persons returned positive for chikungunya in the district from January to September. Of which, 281 dengue cases and 69 chikungunya cases are reported from the city alone.

The high incidence of the diseases came to light during the progress review meeting of the Karnataka Development Programme (KDP) at the zilla panchayat auditorium here on Monday. ZP vice-president Kayamballi Nataraj told the meeting, “Mysuru city has been selected as the cleanest city in the country. It won the distinction thrice in a year. But where are the breeding grounds for mosquitoes, causing the diseases, he questioned.

However, Health department officials claim that no deaths have been caused due to these diseases. ZP Chief Executive Officer (CEO) P Shivashankar asked the officials concerned to take preventative measures to check the breeding of mosquitoes. The CEO said, “People who suffer from chikungunya need, at least, six months rest and they cannot perform any work. So, the authorities should take the issue seriously.”

No medicos in 16 PHCs
The Health department is facing acute shortage of staff members, with 16 Primary Health Centres (PHC) in the district having no doctors at all. Apart from this, 47 posts, including 23 doctors, 69 pharmacists and others are lying vacant in the district.

The district has eight paramedical workers posts, 193 junior health assistant (women), 92 (men), 49 senior health assistant (men), 52 staff nurse positions and all the posts are lying vacant. According to the records available, only three doctors were recruited, last year.

Expressing displeasure over the issue, ZP Social Justice standing committee president Beerihundi Basavanna asked, if there are no doctors in PHCs, what is the use of centres? “Though there is a provision for the Health department to recruit staff on contract basis under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), why have the posts not been filled? The officials concerned should take measures to fill all the posts immediately,” he said.

The CEO directed the officials to take necessary action in this regard. Other issues like lack of teachers in schools, fodder for cattle progress of various schemes of the government among others also came up for discussion during the meeting. ZP President Nayeema Sultana was present.