Amidst the dengue crisis in the state, the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Telangana state, blamed the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and other departments of the government. The IMA said that authorities did not plan properly to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes.
They did not fumigate enough, nor did they conduct special cleanliness drives, the IMA said. The IMA said that it was common to witness many patients in hospitals during the monsoon due to viral fever. However, this year, as the agencies failed to prevent mosquitoes from breeding, the cases of seasonal fever were rampant this year, the IMA said.
Addressing the media, Dr Y Ravinder Rao, in charge of Telangana Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association said, “The media should monitor and report about how many times the agencies had visited each locality to fumigate the area.”
According to Rao, the agencies failed in taking preventive measures like proper sanitation, which led to the crisis. However, the IMA disapproved the action of the Opposition, and said that their intervention in the issue has been counterproductive and spreading paranoia among the people.
Dr B Pratap Reddy, IMA Telangana President, said “It is not the right time to settle political scores and spread paranoia. When the state is combating the disease, it is not correct for political parties to use the issue for their political gains,” he said.
The IMA said that due to paranoia, large number of patients are visiting hospitals which the government and hospitals in turn are unable to handle.
Dr BN Rao, state vice president of IMA, Telangana chapter told TNM, “If there was proper coordination among government agencies and planning ahead to tackle the spread of viral diseases, the outbreak could have been contained.”
According to a report by The New Indian Express, as of September 5, the state has recorded 2,786 cases of dengue, 301 cases of chikungunya, and 1,156 cases of malaria this year. The same report says that the government has been trying to underplay the crisis, and has threatened private hospitals against disclosing the dengue deaths to media.
In the past few weeks, there were at least three deaths in the state caused due to dengue. TNM had written in detail about how the capital city does not have enough fogging machines and continues to use DDT for spraying.