CPI-M lambasts Mamata government for its tackling of dengue 'epidemic'

CPI-M's West Bengal unit secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra on Sunday accused the Trinamool Congress government of failing to initiate awareness measures for the public about the dengue "epidemic" while going all out to suppress facts about the disease

CPI-M's West Bengal unit secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra on Sunday accused the Trinamool Congress government of failing to initiate awareness measures for the public about the dengue "epidemic" while going all out to suppress facts about the disease.

Mamata Banerjee

"The state government is pressurising doctors not to mention dengue in the death certificate if anybody dies of the disease. They are pressurising pathological labs not to mention positive results of dengue in their reports. This attitude will only aggravate the problem," he said.

Expressing surprise over the government not using the media to spread awareness about the mosquito-borne disease, Mishra said: "There is so much chaos. But the state government is yet to come out with a proper advertisement mentioning the World Health Organisation guidelines and the protocols to treat the disease which is followed by the centre and the state. "Without such awarenss campaign, the spread of the disease can't be controlled".

However, he said people have come to know from the media about the serious situation created by the disease. "It is due to the media that the Chief Minister has failed to keep things under the carpet completely. Information is coming out." Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee recently claimed that the dengue situation is not serious enough to trigger panic.

According to Banerjee, there were 13 confirmed deaths in state-run hospitals due to dengue. The government was cross-checking the reports of 27 others who are suspected to have perished due to the disease in private health facilities. But the opposition parties have rubbished her claims, and said that the deaths from the disease was several times more than figures furnished by her.

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