Japanese Encephalitis Controlled In Uttar Pradesh, Says Yogi Adityanath

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): Uttar Pradesh government and the state health department together have successfully controlled Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) in the state, said Yogi Adityanath on Sunday.

"UP government and the state health department have successfully controlled 95 per cent of Japanese Encephalitis cases in the state. We plan to achieve the rest in this year," Adityanath said.

This comes as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched the Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine drive and administered the vaccine drops to children in Lucknow on Sunday.

Addressing the event, Adityanath said, "We need to control the disease from the state without any extra cost and only through the medium of convergence," he said.

"We should all acknowledge the power of inter-departmental coordination to control the JE disease in the state," Adityanath said.

"The Basic, Secondary Education Council along with Women and Child development department had played an important role in creating public awareness for JE," he added.

In 2019, Eastern Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur city witnessed a drastic fall in cases of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) this year as compared to previous years, authorities had claimed.

"In 2017 we handled numerous cases of AES and JEV and soon after that we launched 'Dastakh' initiative in many districts in 2018 where we used to make locals aware about what medicines they should give to their children if they are suffering from AES or JEV, intake of clean drinking water, maintain cleanliness in and around their vicinity, and this awareness drive resulted in fewer causalities," District Magistrate Anuj Singh told ANI.

Moreover, Principal of BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur, said the number of deaths has also declined over the years.

The Chief Minister also announced the third phase of Mission Indradhanush which is scheduled to begin on February 22.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan on February 19 launched Intensified Mission Indradhanush 3.0 to expand immunization coverage across the country. It will have two rounds starting from the 22nd of this month and the 22nd of March this year and will be conducted in pre-identified 250 districts and urban areas across 29 States and UTs in the country.

The focus of the Intensified Mission Indradhanush 3.0 will be the children and pregnant women who have missed their vaccine doses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There are several diseases which can be controlled by timely vaccination of pregnant women and infants. Lack of awareness only results in an increase of both infant and pregnant women mortality rate," Adityanath added.

Yogi Adityanath tweeted in Malayalam on Sunday before leaving for Kerala.

"Namaskar Kerala. I have had the good fortune to return to the holy land of Adi Shankara and Sri Narayana Guru. Starting today, BJP4Keralam, I join you in the journey of success. Jai Shree Ram," he said.