BJP seeks declaration of medical emergency in Karnataka over rising dengue cases

BENGALURU: Following the death of 11 year old boy Gagan, a resident of Bengaluru city owing to suspected dengue on Friday and the State unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday urged the State Government to declare a ‘medical emergency situation.’

Lok Sabha member C.N. Manjunath, at a press conference in Bengaluru, asked the State Government to constitute a task force to bring rising cases of dengue under control in the State and wanted the task force should go by the experts’ opinion to tackle dengue cases.

In another suggestion to deal with dengue, he said, the cases of dengue are alarming in Karnataka and the disease has claimed about 7 lives including a doctor besides, hundreds of people have been affected by the disease. It is a matter of concern that dengue has gone up among children and the BJP MP asked the State Government to issue a circular to all educational institutions to initiate steps to control the spread of the disease and also to create awareness on ways to stop the disease from spreading.

Manjunath wanted steps to destroy mosquitoes at source to bring the disease under control and felt the need for various departments such as health department, urban development, water supply and sewerage board. The BJP MP also asked the State Government to act against pathology laboratories and hospitals engaged in charging exorbitant fares for tests and also treatment.

BJP spokesperson Ashwathnarayan accused the health department of being in a state of dormant while dengue cases have been increasing in all districts of the State since a month. The spokesperson alleged Minister for Health and Family Welfare Services Dinesh Gundu Rao is busy with party activities and tours who has failed to monitor the dengue cases effectively.

Meanwhile, Dinesh Gundu Rao appealed to the residents to fight the spread of dengue by joining hands with the health department and asked them to keep their surroundings clean so as not to allow water stagnation to allow mosquitoes to breed. He assured the residents that health workers will strive to destroy mosquitoes at source.

He asked people to get tests without fail for symptoms of fever and the tests at government hospitals are for free while Rs 300 has been fixed for tests in private hospitals.