Pyrethroid shield for 21 lakh people in 1,000 U.P. villages

In 10 UP districts, a new chemical spray will protect homes from mosquitoes, replacing DDT, covering 1,000 villages to combat vector-borne diseases.

Vulnerable rural population in 10 UP districts will get a chemical shield against mosquitoes. Pyrethroids, which are chemical synthetic insecticides, will be sprayed on the walls of homes in around 1,000 villages in 10 Uttar Pradesh districts under a vector-borne disease control programme. This is the first time that this chemical spray is being used against vectors inside homes.

FILE - In this Aug. 26, 2019, file photo, Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District biologist Nadja Reissen examines a mosquito in Salt Lake City. Eastern equine encephalitis, a rare and deadly mosquito-borne illness, saw a small but worrisome increase in the summer of 2019. The numbers remain very low _ just 38 cases in 2019. But that’s more than double the annual number in the past decade, and it included 15 deaths. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File) (AP)

“Districts identified for the drive are Sitapur, Badaun, Bareilly, Lakhimpur, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur, Sambhal, Khiri, Haidoi and Sonebhadra. At least 1,000 villages with 21 lakh population will be covered,” said Dr Vikas Singhal, the joint director of the vector-borne disease control programme of the state health department. The chemical will be used in addition to the regular anti-larva spray but will replace the sprinkling of DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane), a synthetic product known to cause health issues among humans.

Under the process, teams from health, panchayati raj and revenue department will coordinate the process. Houses identified will be approached by the teams and families will be educated about the benefit of spray. Once done the families will be given instructions regarding dos and don’ts for the chemical spray. Also, reporting of any fever case will be done by the field health staff, including accredited social health activist (ASHA) and auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM).

The January to August tally of malaria cases will be under focus.

In the January-August period of 2023, Bareilly reported 1,105 malaria cases. In the corresponding period this year it saw 815 cases. Similary, Badaun reported 1277 cases in 2023 and 452 cases this year; Hardoi saw 1,054 cases in 2023 and 289 in 2024; Sonbhadra (43 and 38). Pilibhit (318 and 20).

The impact of the new chemical usage will be evaluated on the basis of number of vector-borne cases, including malaria and dengue, reported from these rural pockets in the January-August period of next year, said Dr Singhal.