Friday Dry Day Drive against seasonal diseases

Stress on importance of engaging people in disease prevention and mosquito control measures
NTR District Collector Dr G Srijana has directed officials to observe Dry Day every Friday. The initiative aims is to raise awareness among the public on seasonal diseases and to combat the mosquito menace effectively. To ensure the success of this programme, Dr Srijana emphasised the involvement of Revenue, Panchayat Raj, Medical, Health and Family Welfare, Municipal, and other related departments.
Collector Srijana convened a meeting with all departmental officials at the camp office in Vijayawada on Tuesday to discuss sanitation and seasonal diseases. She also released a wall poster in this regard. By implementing these measures, the district administration aims to create a cleaner and healthier environment, reducing the prevalence of seasonal diseases during the rainy season and enhancing public health standards in NTR district.
Speaking on the occasion, she said that the focus of the Dry Day initiative will be on promoting sanitation practices and encouraging community participation. Dr Srijana stressed the importance of engaging people actively in these efforts to achieve meaningful results in disease prevention and mosquito control.
The programme should be conducted in all gram panchayats, municipalities, and corporations with the participation of respective officials, she said. Also, she asked the officials to alert the people about diseases such as malaria and dengue spread by mosquitoes.
As part of preventive measures, a special sanitation drive should be conducted in addition to the regular sanitation maintenance in all 288 gram panchayats and 389 habitations. Cleaning and chlorination should be conducted in all 588 Overhead Tanks (OHS) in the district as per the prescribed schedule, she said.
They should ensure geotagging and taking photographs before and after cleaning and chlorination, and this should be certified by Extension Officer, Panchayat Raj and Rural Development (EO, PR & RD), she said.
The Collector made it clear that if any allegation is raised regarding cleaning OHS and chlorination, stringent action will be taken. She stressed on providing publicity on seasonal diseases and sanitation through media and pamphlets. Officials should be aware of private agencies which are organising sanitation activities in all temples, government hospitals, and tourist places.
NTR District Medical & Health Officer (DM&HO) Dr M Suhasini, Vijayawada Municipal Corporation Commissioner in charge Dr A Mahesh, Chief Engineer M Prabhakar, DPI Siva Prasad Yadav, Government General Hospital Superintendent Dr Venkateswara Rao, District Malaria Officer Dr Mothi Babu, VMC CMOH Dr Ratnavali, DCHS Dr BCK Naik, Dr NTR Vaidya Seva Trust Coordinator Dr J Suman and others were present.