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Title : Need to undertake measures to eradicate Japanese Encephalitis in the country.
SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY (MATHURA): While attention has been given to contain the outbreak of bird flu and swine flu, Japanese Encephalitis is an epidemic the Government has failed to address in the past decade. Bihar, Assam and Tamil Nadu are badly affected and Uttar Pradesh with 23 affected districts and Gorakhpur as the epicentre, accounts for the largest number of deaths, with 556 deaths in 2009.
Assurances in this House by the concerned Minister and a declared intention to form a special research group under the ICMR to study the virus and to undertake a campaign for its eradication have seen no visible impact on the ground. The vaccine for encephalitis should be administered around three months before Monsoons but no action has been taken and already hundreds of cases are being reported. I demand an urgent campaign including both NUHM and NRHM that includes PHC level neutralization of Japanese Encephalitis.