Kolkata: Nearly 700 people have lost their lives due to encephalitis in four states this year, the Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said in parliament, as members demanded that the disease be declared an epidemic.
The disease has claimed 208 lives in West Bengal, 197 in Assam, 159 in Bihar and 123 in Uttar Pradesh so far this year, Dr Vardhan said as he called upon parliamentarians to educate people on the importance of clean drinking water and immunising their children. He also called upon non-governmental organisations, corporates and religious organisations to help with awareness campaigns.
Speaking to Gulf News over phone, Dr Vardhan said: “Every year, as many as 1.4 million children die in the country before they reach the age of five. Eighty per cent of such deaths are due to diseases which can be prevented. In case of encephalitis, 92 per cent of the children who had died were not immunised. Although the disease cannot be eradicated like polio, it can to a large extent be contained through universal immunisation and use of boiled water in affected areas,” the minister added.
The last few years have seen even adults coming down with encephalitis, which is usually reported in children below the age of 15 years. The cases of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AEC) reported from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam stood at 501, 857, 1,183 and 1,217 respectively, Dr Vardhan said.
Amid the high mortality rate due to the disease, the principal of the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) Anup Kumar Roy has been suspended for alleged dereliction of duty. This is the fourth suspension involving health officials since the outbreak in North Bengal.
West Bengal state health services director Biswaranjan Satpathy said: “In the last 24 hours, four deaths have been reported. Among them, two were from north Bengal and two from Murshidabad and another from Bishnupur. The government is working round the clock to contain the outbreak.”
Assam is another state that is grappling with the outbreak, and a round-the-clock monitoring system has been opened at the chief minister’s office to contain the situation.
“This year’s outbreak and loss of lives is completely due to the negligence of the state government. [For the] Last two years, all vaccination drives for the disease were neglected as the outbreak was limited and the government thought that they have contained the menace,” said an official of the Union Health Ministry.