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“India being dengue-endemic should include disease prevention strategies as part of its plans to combat the condition”
New Delhi, July 22, 2018:
A global consortium of researchers has developed an early warning system to alert authorities on the Caribbean island of Barbados when a dengue outbreak is likely to strike. The study has shown that a period of drought, followed by intense rainfall for 4 to 5 months, provides the optimum conditions for disease outbreak.
People are more likely to leave water containers outside their homes after a spell of drought. When a period of intense rainfall follows, these containers become the source for water to collect and a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
Speaking about this, Padma Shri Awardee, Dr K K Aggarwal, President HCFI, said, “People tend to store water in containers during periods of drought. This provides an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes, which lay their eggs in pools of standing water. There is a need to shift emphasis toward more proactive disease prevention strategies that do not rely as strongly on responding to detected cases alone. Many parts of India too face drought-like conditions and people store water in several containers to meet their needs. And when the first rains come after periods of bright sunshine and scorching summers, some people like to keep containers or vessels outside to collect the first rainwater. Our roofs and verandahs or open spaces around the houses already are dumping grounds for old tyres, discarded drums, cans, utensils, etc. The mosquitoes, Aedes specifically, therefore have ample breeding sites. India is a dengue-endemic country and therefore, these habits need to change. One must learn to keep only what is required and discard what is not.”
Jainism calls the act of letting go as aparigraha, one of the five great vows (maha-vratas). Aparigraha is also one of the five Yamas described in Patanjali Yoga Sutras. The others are ahimsa, satya, asteya, and brahmacharya.
Adding further, Dr Aggarwal, who is also the Group Editor of IJCP, said, “Needs often become synonymous with desires. Aparigrahacan help us separate the two. We clean our houses customarily during the festival of Diwali. This is also the time when we dispose of all the unwanted items by giving them away. A similar Diwali-like cleaning houses can be done before the onset of monsoons to remove or dispose of all the discarded old containers etc. in which water can collect and become breeding grounds for the mosquitoes.”
Some tips from HCFI
Few other points to be considered include the following.
- A community approach means that 100% of the society talks about dengue. Every premise must indicate that it is mosquito free. When you are invited to someone’s house, you should ask “I hope your premises are mosquito free”. When you invite, write, “welcome to my house, it is mosquito free”.
- The idea of checking your house once a week needs a change. One needs to be alert every day. It should be a part of your routine. You do not clean your premises once a week. Make it a habit to look for the breeding places.
HealthySoch
