KMC panel to check vector-borne diseases

With the spread of vector-borne diseases in the city showing no signs of slowing down, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation decided to set up a 13-member advisory committee on Friday.

With the spread of vector-borne diseases in the city showing no signs of slowing down, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation KMC decided to set up a 13-member advisory committee on Friday.

The committee, headed by Dr Amiyo Kumar Hati, former director of the School of Tropical Medicine STM, includes two entomological experts, two state health department officials and one National Vector-borne Disease Control Programme NVBDCP official. The main task of the committee would be to guide the civic body to efficiently handle any outbreak of vector-borne disease.

According to a civic official, the committee will meet at least twice a month to discuss various issues related to vector-borne diseases. The committee is supposed to come up with an action plan for tackling an outbreak similar to the one that occurred this year in which several people lost their lives.

Significantly, a recent report sent by the NVBDCP criticised the civic body for not taking adequate measures to control the outbreak. It also pointed out that the KMC does not have an action plan which is compulsory for checking an outbreak, nor has it conducted an entomological survey. Apparently, the civic body is yet to take any steps to upgrade the existing vector-control infrastructure.

According to a senior civic health official, the KMC needs at least two more entomologists urgently, but the civic authorities have not done anything so far in this regard. 8220;We need a strong infrastructure that we do not have. Our field workers need to be more qualified. We urgently require trained laboratory technicians. But the authorities have not deliberated on these issues,8221; added the official.

The committee also include Chief Municipal Health Officer Deb Dwaipayan Chattopadhyay, three deputy CMHOs, municipal surveillance officer, members from the state health department and STM. A decision to pay some of the members who are not employed by any institute was also deliberated during the meeting.