Andhra Pradesh declares war on mosquitoes

Fresh with memories of suffering from chikungunya, and the dengue threat looming large, Andhra Pradesh has finally declared a war on mosquitoes with a three-year sustained action plan.

Announcing a coordinated plan involving various departments and a special drive to take on mosquito menace across the state in the next ten weeks, Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has said that the government was releasing an additional amount of Rs 40 lakh to each of the 23 districts to kill mosquitoes and create awareness among people on arresting mosquito breeding.

Under the special drive, the government will form medical teams and provide up to 25 additional vehicles to each districts to undertake fogging and spraying of DDT and other mosquito killers across all habitations.

The chief minister said the services of organisations like the National Cadet Corps (NCC) and National Service Scheme (NSS) will also be sought in the action plan.

So far, eight deaths due to dengue and 126 suspected cases have been reported in the state. The highest number of suspected dengue cases (22) has been reported from Hyderabad. Also, ten out of 60 confirmed dengue cases in the state are also from Hyderabad.

Recently, the entire state was gripped by chikungunya and as per the cumulative figures given by the directorate of health, 77,467 suspected chikungunya cases were reported from all over the state this year. In addition, the department has so far confirmed 23,215 malaria cases this year.

The government has already set up dengue testing facilities in all teaching hospitals across the state besides establishing exclusive epidemic cells in all districts.