Kerala health minister launches sanitation drive to prevent dengue

T’puram: Health minister K Muraleedharan launched ‘Dry Day’, a dengue prevention and sanitation drive from his residence. He also went on a door-to-door campaign at Jawahar Nagar in Thiruvananthapuram.On Friday morning, after ensuring that his house and surroundings in Jawahar Nagar, Kowdiar, were clean, the minister visited nearby houses to explain the importance of maintaining clean premises. He distributed awareness pamphlets.Speaking during the house visits, Muraleedharan said that preventing the breeding of Aedes mosquitoes, which spread dengue, is a key part of controlling infectious diseases, and that the Dry Day campaign is meant to ensure this.“Even if places where water may collect cannot be cleaned every day, they should be cleaned at least once a week without fail,” he said.He urged the public to follow the health department’s instructions and actively take part in the effort.Muraleedharan said that due to the election, pre-monsoon sanitation efforts were not carried out effectively this time leading to a higher likelihood of increased reporting of dengue and other communicable diseases.

The ‘Dry Day’ campaign has been designated for Fridays in schools, Saturdays in govt offices, and Sundays in homes across the state.Water collecting in flowerpots, refrigerator drip trays, coconut shells, and other carelessly discarded items around homes can create breeding grounds for mosquitoes, he added.With health experts warning that dengue cases may rise as rainfall intensifies, the initiative has been launched to strengthen cleaning drives.