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Cuttack, July 8: Expressing concern over the outbreak of dengue in state, the Orissa Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has asked the collectors of eight districts to submit reports within two weeks.
The rights panel has directed the collectors of Cuttack, Khurda, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Keonjhar, Bhadrak and Bolangir to submit reports stating the causes and circumstances responsible for dengue outbreak and steps taken by the administration to tackle the disease.
The OHRC has also directed health secretary, housing and urban development secretary and the superintendent of SCB Medical College and Hospital to file reports regarding the preventive measures taken by the state government to control the spread of the vector-borne disease in four weeks.
Rights activist Nishikanth Mishra had moved the OHRC alleging that the state government had failed to combat dengue menace.
The petitioner said a woman from Keonjhar had died in dengue and more than 400 have been tested positive for the disease across the state.
Health minister visits SCB
Cuttack: Health minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak Friday visited SCB Medical College and Hospital and reviewed the arrangements for treatment of dengue patients. Nayak held discussions with SCB Medical College and Hospital superintendent Pratap Kumar Rath, medicine department professor CBK Mohanty and emergency officer Bhubanananda Maharana over the measures to tackle the vector-borne disease. Sources said health department officials have so far identified 63 dengue patients in Cuttack district and 29 patients in Keonjhar district. “We have examined 1,250 blood samples from across the state of which 183 were tested dengue positive. Moreover, hospitals in Keonjhar have found dengue virus in 300 blood samples,” Maharana added.
