The government of Uttar Pradesh led by Yogi Adityanath seems to be winning the war against encephalitis, since deaths due to the deadly epidemic were drastically reduced by 66 percent in the 14 most affected districts of Uttar Pradesh in 2018, reported Economic Times .
According to reports, on Monday, the Minister of Health of Uttar Pradesh, Sidharth Nath Singh, informed the UP assembly in writing that 187 people died from encephalitis in 2018 against 553 deaths in 2017. The number of cases of encephalitis was reported in the 14 most affected districts of Eastern UP it dropped significantly from 3817 in 2017 to 2043 cases last year.
The UP health minister said doctors could save more patients compared to previous years. As every seventh patient admitted for encephalitis died during treatment in 2017, the drop rate decreased to every eleventh patient in 2018. The Minister also added that until February 11, 2019, no one died due to encephalitis of the 35 cases reported.
The UP government has attributed measures such as early vaccination, the segregation of pigs from the affected room, immediate response teams to prevent the outbreak, convince parents not to let their children sleep on the mud floor, drink water from an ‘India Mark-2’ faucet or hand pump, and call the ambulance 108 help line immediately if they find any symptoms to help reduce the number of deaths.
Encephalitis is one of the biggest public health problems in Uttar Pradesh. He has killed thousands of children in the past 30 years. Shortly after coming to power, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath recognized the seriousness of the health problem and the fight against the epidemic became the main agenda of the UP government.
The UP government launched the Dastak program in February 2018, with the aim of immunizing all children under 15 years of age and carrying out generalized sanitation and awareness programs. The campaign was planned as a holistic program to educate and provide services to families, not only for vaccination but also for the prevention and treatment of the disease.
Regarding the campaign, Yogi Adityanath had stated that, for the 38 UP districts affected by the disease, the state health department would become the nodal agency and other departments such as urban development, Panchayati Raj, Women and Child Welfare, Development Rural Medical education, animal husbandry and basic education departments will work under them.
The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) had praised the government of Uttar Pradesh led by CM Yogi Adityanath for successfully immunizing all children in the state against Japanese encephalitis and acute encephalitis syndrome.
A big shout out to #UttarPradesh for immunizing every child in the state against Japanese Encephalitis and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome under the #Dastak campaign! ?#VaccinesWork for #DimagiBukharSeJung#EveryChildALIVE #WorldImmunizationWeek @CMOfficeUP @MoHFW_INDIA pic.twitter.com/4ww8aCdgOx
— UNICEF India (@UNICEFIndia) April 25, 2018
Encephalitis is a life-threatening disease that causes an acute inflammation of the brain. A person suffering from encephalitis requires serious medical attention. This disease can occur to people of any age group, but children and the elderly are more likely to have the disease. It is caused by a bacterial infection, parasites or it can be caused by other infectious diseases. Encephalitis is a non-contagious disease.
