Government will now filter disease data

In face of rising public indignation about the spread of vector-borne diseases, the Left Front government has officially asked the Kolkata Municipal Corporation KMC to hold back all data.

In face of rising public indignation about the spread of vector-borne diseases, the Left Front government has officially asked the Kolkata Municipal Corporation KMC to hold back all data.

8220;Any information related to vector-borne diseases now will be provided by the information department of the state government as it has been asked by the state authorities,8221; said Deb Dwaipayan Chattopadhyay, Chief Health Municipal Officer CMHO. The minister-in-charge of the information department is Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

The state health department authorities have been claiming that the reports published by civic bodies or hospitals and nursing homes are not authentic.

8220;Apart from the reports of the state8217;s health department, no other report is authentic,8221; said Sanchita Bakshi, Director, Health Services. 8220;Until and unless a death case is confirmed by the health department, it will not be publicised.8221;

Ostensibly, the reason behind the latest decision is inconsistencies.

There is a lack of coordination between the state health department and the KMC, Chattopadhaya said. 8220;The decision was taken to ensure that there is no more discrepancy in reports.8221;

Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, however, said that the discrepancies occurred due to confusion about the jurisdiction of the KMC area.

Earlier, the inconsistencies were found because some of the private clinics did not send their reports. As of now, the civic has started collecting data from the private clinics and added them to their reports.

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8220;Even then, there was some confusion about the KMC area, so the data of the state health department and the KMC did not match,8221; said Bhattacharya.

8220;Finally, we were asked by the state health department to send all data to them, so that it can be compiled there and made public,8221; he added.

Health minister Suryakanta Mishra refused to comment on this issue, saying that the outbreak is not very serious as vector-borne diseases are very common in all tropical areas.

Hospital confirms malaria death, govt denies
Vector-borne diseases have claimed one more life in the city, taking the death toll to 20. Rafiq Mallik 30, a resident of 110, Collin Street ward 52, died in R G Kar hospital on Wednesday. Local councillor Sunita Saha has, however, denied any death in her ward. The death is yet to be confirmed by either the state health department or the civic body.
The hospital authorities, however, claimed that Mallik died of malignant malaria. 8220;He was brought to the hospital in a serious condition yesterday and was diagnosed with malignant malaria,8221; said Krishnashu Roy, Superintendent, R G Kar hospital.
Sanchita Bakshi, Director of health services, had a different take. 8220;Death certificates of the state-run hospitals and reports of malaria clinics of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation are not reliable. I am in Behrampore now. I will return on Saturday, then only I will confirm the death,8221; she said.