Disease panel chief wants two joint directors of health in Pune

Several years ago, two independent joint directors had handled the two types of diseases which changed with the setting up of National Health Mission when one of the joint directors was re-allocated to Mumbai leaving the other one in Pune.

While each of the eight health circles — Pune, Thane, Kolhapur, Latur, Aurangabad, Nashik, Akola and Nagpur — is headed by an assistant director of health along with other officials, in case of a gastroenteritis, cholera or typhoid outbreak the joint director has to rush to the spot and assess the situation. During monsoon, both vector and water-borne diseases witnessed an astonishing rise in the cases. Between January and September there have been over 4,500 cases of dengue and four deaths. Apart from dengue, other vector-borne diseases include chikungunya, malaria, filaria, chandipura virus, japanese encephalitis. Water-borne diseases like diarrhoea, cholera, gastroenteritis, leptospirosis too saw an increase during monsoon with over 100 outbreaks in various parts of the state since January.

Meanwhile, a majority of dengue cases are from municipal corporation areas. Pune has the highest number of chikungunya cases with as many as 1,050 in the city itself. In August and September this year, the tally rose considerably, with the Pune Municipal Corporation registering 119 cases of chikungunya, while 390 were registered in September alone. Out of 2,256 suspected cases of dengue, Pune municipal authorities have confirmed 487 cases — the highest number — where 100 were registered in August and 214 in September this year.

“Need a helping hand”

Out of 1,669 laboratory technician posts, a total of 1,100 have been filled, while out of 5,500 posts of multi-purpose health workers a total of 3,500 have been filled. There are 350 cases filed in the court which require the presence of senior officials to file affidavits. Labour unions with workers’ grievances regarding pension and others demand time too, while RTI queries too are piling up. When contacted, Jagtap admitted that the workload is tremendous. When contacted, Salunkhe said he had written to the state health minister about the need for senior-level health officers.

State chief calls for aggressive measures to tackle dengue, remain alert for swine flu

In spite of shouting from the rooftops on the need for urgent preventive action before monsoon, most municipal corporations, including Pune and Thane, which have the largest number of dengue cases, resorted to firefighting measures, Dr Subhash Salunkhe, chief of the state committee on communicable diseases, told The Indian Express. “It has been a clear cut public health failure in tackling dengue and chikungunya and this calls for more aggressive measures,” Salunkhe added. The upcoming winter season is also adding to the concerns of health officials, who now need to remain alert on stepping up vaccination against H1N1 virus (swine flu).