Dengue cases on rise: Collector

Special teams formed for awareness among people

Visakhapatnam: District Collector Praveen Kumar has said dengue cases are being reported more in urban areas and there is need to
create awareness among people while maintaining better sanitation in the localities.

Addressing a meeting on awareness on dengue for the ASHA, Anganwadi, ANMs and health workers held at Swarnabharathi Indoor
Stadium here on Monday, the Collector said that dengue cases were increased in the city by over 100 percent compared to last year. He
asked the health workers to create awareness among the people on how to maintain cleanliness in the homes and their surroundings.

He said the GVMC had been supplying drinking water every day and there was no need for storing water in excess quantity which could
attract mosquitoes. Even water logged areas should be filled up with sand, he suggested.

He said around 20 teams-- one team for every one lakh people -- would be sent out all over the city for the next 15 days. The teams
would visit every home and collect blood samples, if they found anybody suffering from fever.

GVMC Commissioner M Harinarayanan said women should play key role in creating awareness among the people. He said 800 women
members present in the awareness meeting should visit every home under the corporation limits.

He said since city was becoming open defecation-free (ODF) from October 2, better sanitation should be maintained. Senior medical
officials were present in the meeting.