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Dengue: Net on death toll, money unspent
View(s):By Nadia Fazlulhaq
Whilst the scourge of dengue continues to take its toll, the Ministry of Health has only utilised less than a third of the Rs. 300 million allocated for the eradication campaign last year and has now clamped down a ban on releasing death figures.
Last year more than 225 were people in the epidemic while more than 44,000 were affected. For the first four months of this year alone, at least 25 deaths have been reported with 10,673 cases, health officials said. The Health Ministry’s Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Paba Palihawadane declined to comment on the ban on the death toll. A senior epidemiologist said it was a policy decision by the Health Ministry.
Last year, of the Rs. 300 million allocated by the Health Ministry to control the deadly mosquito-borne disease, only Rs. 97 million was used, the official said.
Another ministry official said: “The Epidemiology Unit did not have a proper plan or mechanism on how to use the allocation to prevent the disease. Cleaning campaigns, awareness programmes, inspections and much more could have been done in the Western Province and other areas.”
The Sunday Times learns that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has also given about US$ 25,000 to the Health Ministry for 2012-2013 for dengue prevention and related programmes.
Last year, the Cabinet approved a proposal by the Health Minister to conduct a four-year dengue surveillance programme with 1.1 million euros provided by the European Union. The money was to be used to develop a dengue early warning system and support the healthcare system to control the disease.
Meanwhile, health sector unions raise concern over the ineffectiveness of dengue-control programmes despite a large amount of money being available. “Despite many facilities and resources, the Health Ministry has failed to control dengue in the Western Province. There are more resources with the Health Ministry and Provincial Councils. Dengue control in the Western Province has been a failure,” said Saman Ratnapriya, convener of the Health Services Trade Union Alliance.
He said that in peripheral areas, provincial level health officers were struggling to continue with their dengue programmes due to financial constraints. Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) Convener Dr. Navin de Soysa said that lack of coordination between the Ministries of Health, Local Government, Education and Environment had made dengue eradication a failed project.
“We have observed that the Presidential Task Force appointed in 2010 is not active while other ministries or their officials are not so interested in controlling this menace,” he said.
The Health Ministry says that 40 per cent of dengue cases were reported from the Western Province. Over the past few years, the highest number of dengue patients was reported from the Colombo District. So far, this year, the district has recorded more than 2,500 cases.
The Colombo city recorded about 1000 cases and two deaths last month.Colombo’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam said that although Colombo was one of the main hotspots, there was zero funding for the Colombo Municipal Council’s dengue prevention programmes from the Health Ministry.
“Rs.30 million is allocated for chemical spraying from the council’s budget and an extra 50 labourers were given. But there are about 100 vacancies for health inspectors,” Dr. Kariyawasam said.
“There are 120,000 premises in the city to be inspected from time to time to ensure mosquitoes are not bred. The Colombo district too needs a lot of attention. Meetings and committees are not of much use unless there are more programmes at the grassroots level. This involves inspection,” he said.
Of 25 districts in the country, 13 are identified as dengue high-risk areas.
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