Call to involve kids, citizens in disease control

She was speaking at the 13th Conference on Vectors and Vector-Borne Diseases (CVVBD) that was kicked off in the city on Monday. The three-day conference organised by the National Academy of Vector Borne Diseases and the Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur has about 300 experts and participants from several countries, discussing all aspects of the range of diseases from malaria, dengue, chikungunya to Japanese Encephalitis, including their prevention and treatment. 

Dr Soumya said that roping in the younger population was imperative because of the diseases posing a serious public health concern in both urban and rural India. Talking to DT Next on the sidelines of the event, Professor AP Dash, Vice-Chancellor of Central University of Tamil Nadu, pointed out that though Tamil Nadu has been making progress, going by the reported number of cases of malaria, dengue, Japanese Encephalitis, Chikungunya, etc, there was a need to look at effective solutions, especially on source reduction. 

“The reported number of cases of Malaria has come down from 5,587 in 2015 to 4,338 in 2016. Dengue too has dipped from 4,535 in 2015 to 2,531 in 2016,” he pointed out. He added that dengue cases had gone up in India from 99,913 (2015) to 1,11,180 in 2016. “Source reduction continues to be the most effective way, in the absence of an effective vaccine or an anti-viral drug,” he said. 

Professor Dash explained that a few of the vector-borne diseases could be eliminated as public health problems within a fixed timeline. “We are looking at eliminating kala azar by 2018 and filariasis by 2020,” he said. 

At the event, Professor PK Rajagopalan received the Life Time Achievement Award, while the NL Kalra Award went to Dr BN Nagpal.