Dengue Hasn’t Hit For The First Time, And It Won’t Be The Last Either. So Who Is At Fault?

Yes, all those who are suffering from this horrible disease or whose closed ones are facing these difficult times, and even those who are petrified of seeing the gargantuan figures related to dengue must be having this question in mind. At least people living in Delhi-NCR region are constantly in fear.

I wonder when the population of mighty ‘Aedes Agypti’ will hear our ‘Bharat Chhodo Andolan’ and make our monsoon and post-monsoon seasons pleasant to live… For all those who are thinking what I am blabbering about – ‘Aedes Agypti’ is the same mosquito which breeds in stagnant and clean water and causes Dengue fever.  Construction waste is the major breeding ground for this, as can be seen in the last dengue outbreak in 2010 during commonwealth games.

With the death toll rising to 20 people unofficially and 3791 cases of dengue being detected this season, dengue is really hitting our country hard. Not only Delhi, which is the worst hit, southern states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala are also facing rising numbers in dengue patients.

It is imperative that we and especially our leaders review the deadly dengue dynamics!

It has been observed that people under 40 years of age are mostly hit by this disease. Small children are at the highest risk of contracting this disease. I am sure the case where a family lost both their children to dengue in the year 2010 and 2015, is freshly etched in our minds and a juxtaposed feeling of anger, sorrow and helplessness engulfs us when we remember that.

Medical Negligence has made the matter even worse. Be it private hospitals or public, the situation is no different. Wherein, in a recent case, a 5 year old died because of delayed treatment in Safdurjung Hospital in Delhi, in another case, a 7 year old lost his life as he was denied treatment in a private hospital. To top it all, Harish Chauhan, a 34 year old from South Delhi was not given proper treatment in 2 government hospitals, with the authorities throwing files at his relative to take him elsewhere, leading him to Batra hospital where he was treated for liver infection and eventually died. Even his mortal remains were returned to the family only after charging heavily.

Seriously, has the medical profession stooped so low, that instead of healing someone’s wound, it just digs them deeper?

But how can only ‘they’ be at fault?

It’s been every year since 1996 that India is facing dengue cases in this season and yet the authorities only wake up from their slumber when at-least a dozen precious lives are lost and that too after a lot of news channels showcase this negligence. Only then will all the politicians come into the limelight and show their only true talent – Blame Game! If it would not have been Arvind Kejriwal, DPCC chief Ajay Makan of congress and Najeeb Jung, the Governor of New Delhi, there would have been some other people in the news.

Despite all of this, it’s quite a relief that still some measures are being taken to fight this:

The Union Health Ministry advises the Delhi Government to intensify its measures in a certain directive,

• The East Municipal Corporation of Delhi is launching a drive- ‘prevention against dengue’ to create awareness about dengue in municipal schools,
• Bengaluru Health officials are getting into action after surge in number of patients and checking both Government and private institutes to see whether they are fully equipped to fight it, and most recently,
• The Delhi High Court is ordering a PIL asking AAP to release funds allocated to them in order to equip private and public hospitals with testing kits (ELISA), platelet transfusion machines and medicines

But, the preparations and precautions are not up to the mark. The epidemic and the fear are rising among the mass, who wants to just save their family from the death pit of dengue. All they want is a dengue-free, safer Delhi for themselves and, for everybody. It is truly a ‘matter of life and death’ for them and they want to choose life by any means. Can our Government ensure that?

It’s a possibility in the future that we could be saved from all these hassles as there could be a vaccine for its prevention. Yes and that credit would go to a French company- Sanofi Pasteur, which is testing the vaccine all over the world.

I hope all the nations come together in this initiative of preventing and curing this disease through initiatives such as BREAK DENGUE and make this world a better place to live.