NGO survey's the state of citizen's health in Mumbai

The NGO, Praja Foundation, said in its report that though one in every 158 person was suffering with malaria in 2010-11, the number was brought down to one in every 567 in 2012-13.

However, despite the decrease in the number of malaria cases, other diseases like tuberculosis, dengue and cholera have shown disturbing trends of afflicting several Mumbaikars in 2012-13.

Tuberculosis topped the list with at least 40,000 people in Mumbai who died of the disease. Followed by this, at least one in 2,555 people had dengue during 2012-13 and between 2009-11, eight people died of Cholera. In 2012-13 itself, cholera took nine lives.

As per RTI data from the city's civic hospitals and dispensaries, 4867 people suffered from dengue last year till July, as compared to 682 people between 2008-09. TB afflicted a staggering 36,417 citizens in 2012-13. The data further revealed that one in 341 persons had tuberculosis in 2012-12. In the last five years itself, 39,531 people had died due to TB.

While the mortality rate of cholera was one in seven cases in 2008-10, though it improved to one in 62 in 2009-10 it has again dipped to one in every 22 in 2012-13.

However, Nitai Mehta, chairperson of Praja said that this is only the tip of the iceberg as only 31 percent of the population use only government dispensaries and hospitals. The report also revealed that households spending more than 6 percent of annual income on medical costs belonged to the lower socio-economic strata.
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