Community participation essential to check dengue: Nadda

New Delhi: Stressing the importance of community participation, Union Health Minister J P Nadda urged resident welfare associations (RWA) to spread awareness in their colonies about dengue prevention measures.

Nadda said his ministry will hold workshops with the newly-elected MCD corporators for their orientation them on preventive measures for the vector-borne disease.

Speaking at an event which was organised to mark the National Dengue Day, Nadda said 'Dengue-free India' is a vision which can be fulfilled by increased community ownership to prevent dengue related morbidity and mortality.

"Community efforts in right direction can minimise the disease burden in the country. Simple measures can be taken for keeping the surroundings clean and free of mosquitoes.

Success of the dengue control programme is related to community participation and ownership," he said.

Reaffirming the commitment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi towards making India clean, Nadda said amongst the various strategies which need to be put in place for this problem, the main focus should be on controlling the vector itself.

"For this purpose, cleanliness is the most important thing. It is the responsibility of all of us and within our communities to insist that we don't create an environment for the dengue to breed," Nadda added.

Director of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Dr Soumya Swaminathan said at the event a national-level survey would be conducted to assess dengue prevalence.

The decision for conducting the survey comes in the wake of a government's apex body rejecting introduction of the dengue vaccine stating there was not enough evidence to prove its efficacy in the Indian context.

"We do not have enough India-specific data to understand the anti-body rate within the community," she said.