104 helpline being used to contain dengue onslaught

Jammu, Oct 7: J&K government has established 104 Helpline to contain dengue onslaught by facilitating people to register grievances, seek help or requisite information.

“This is a Health helpline – an initiative of J&K government, funded by the Government of India under National Health Mission (NHM). People can register grievances using this helpline. Suppose, if our spraying or fogging teams are required in an area which has reported maximum dengue cases, the people can call us on this number,” State Malariologist Dr Harjeet Rai informed Greater Kashmir.

Besides, according to him, the department too takes initiative to call dengue patients to get their updated status or check their medical or other requirements. “We have prepared a questionnaire in this regard and it is effectively used to know the status of dengue patients,” he said.

“The situation is well under control. If we see the comparative statistics, the number of Dengue cases was on the higher side last year although the number of tests conducted was quite less. However, this year, the number of tests being conducted is higher. We have already conducted over 20,000 tests so far and against it, the positive cases registered are 2627. Last year, the number of cases was 8234. So safely, we assume that the situation was pretty bad last year and comparatively this year, the situation fortunately has registered a downward spiral so far,” Dr Rai explains.

Though he asserts that there’s nothing to panic so far yet cautions against going complacent. “See, at present, there is nothing to worry but the cases can register an upward trend in the days to come. As the weather changes, fluctuating temperature becomes favourable for this vector-borne disease, hence we cannot be complacent. As a precaution, we cannot let our guard down at this moment,” maintains Dr Rai, who is also Nodal Officer NHM.