Uttar Pradesh govt claims decline in cases of communicable diseases

The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday claimed a decline in cases of communicable diseases in the state following a cleanliness drive initiated by it.

Additional Chief Secretary Medical and Health Amit Mohan Prasad in a statement said in the current year, only 4,687 cases of malaria were reported till August 20 as against 15,101 in the same period in 2019.

Last year, 816 cases of acute encephalitis syndrome, including 34 deaths, were reported till August 20, he said. This year, only 396 cases of the disease surfaced during the same period, he said, adding that the fatality count stood at 12.

As far as Japanese encephalitis is concerned, 50 cases were reported last year while this year, only 19 cases were recorded in the same period, he said.

Last year four persons died due to the disease while this year, only two deaths have been reported, he said.

Prasad said 135 cases of dengue had surfaced till August 20 in 2019 against this year's 32.