MCD didn’t report correct dengue figures last year, says Walia

"I have personally called Medical Superintendents of the MCD as well as our hospitals, and most said there was no need to panic as far as dengue is concerned", says Delhi's Health Minister, Kiran Walia.

Delhi’s reported 30 cases this month as compared to 2 last year. How prepared is Delhi’s health department?

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I'm calling an emergency meeting on Dengue. I'm not passing the buck, but the responsibility lies with the MCD to control dengue outbreak in the city. It’s not fair to compare this year’s data with last year’s, as the civic agency didn’t report the correct figures last year.

Dengue peaks in September and October, which coincides with the CWG. Is there a plan to protect the foreign delegates and residents from an outbreak?

I have conducted four health campaigns on cleanliness and sanitation in various areas in the last one month. I am calling a meeting of local MLAs to ask them to conduct a cleanliness drive in their areas. We have stopped digging all over the city and are removing all the debris from the roads. This will help check mosquito breeding. Many construction sites such as the Yamuna Sports Complex, and hospitals such as AIIMS, Safdarjung, GB Pant etc have been found to be breeding dengue-causing mosquitoes.

MCD needs to intensify its efforts, and start door-to-door checking. They know which areas are most vulnerable. I was surprised that they used their domestic breeding checkers for collecting House-tax information. I personally intervened and asked the Commissioner to discontinue it and let them concentrate on their original work.

Each year, private hospitals record higher numbers of dengue cases and MCD is accused of under-reporting. Why the discrepancy in data?

I won’t allow the MCD to fudge figures. I have personally called Medical Superintendents of the MCD as well as our hospitals, and most said there was no need to panic as far as dengue is concerned.

How much money is spent by the health department on public awareness? Given that everyone knew the CWG would coincide with a dengue outbreak, why were no public awareness campaigns launched?

The budget for this is MCD's. I plan to write to schools and RWAs to spread awareness, as citizens have a great role to play in controlling the disease. It has to be a collective effort.