The National Dengue Day was observed in Dharwad on Monday. Officials organised various programmes, including sensitisation sessions, awareness rallies and training for staff.
The Department of Health and Family Welfare organised the event. District Health Officer B.C. Karigoudar flagged off an awareness rally of paramedical staff and nursing students that passed through the main streets of the city raising awareness.
Dr. Karigoudar said that there is a need to implement surveillance activities to check the spread of dengue.
“The community’s responsibilities in checking the transmission of dengue are important. All of us should keep the surroundings clean to check the breeding of mosquitoes. We should not allow water to remain stagnant,’’ he said.
Insecticide-treated mosquito nets should be used. Full-sleeve shirts should be worn to prevent mosquito bites. Fever should not be neglected and blood samples should be tested for any kind of fever, he said. The public should join hands with authorities in the fight against dengue, he added.
An integrated vector management approach and sustainable national control programmes are needed to prevent malaria, dengue, and other vector-borne diseases. Vector control programmes at all levels are being implemented, including community mobilisation and support, village leadership, family and individual action such as cleaning houses and gardens weekly, to reduce mosquito breeding,’ he said.
As many as 13 cases have been detected in Dharwad district in one year, but there have been no deaths. And, there have been no cases in the last three months, he said in a press release.
