Jain has been reiterating that "as per medical literature chikungunya cannot cause death, and has accused media of spreading panic."
"At a time when people are dying of chikungunya, the statement by the health minister that people cannot die of chikungunya shows his insensitivity and ignorance," Maken said while launching a fogging drive by Delhi Pradesh Traders Congress here.
At least 15 fatalities have been reported at various hospitals due to chikungunya complications, including a 22-year-old girl who died of a cardiac arrest triggered by chikungunya complications at Hindu Rao Hospital.
Doctors say that chikungunya is not a life-threatening disease in general, but in rare cases leads to complications that prove fatal, especially in children and elderly persons.
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The committee set up by the Delhi government to review cases of death attributed to dengue and chikungunya complications has "ruled out" chikungunya as the primary cause of fatality and said it was "co-morbid conditions" in its patients which led to their deaths.
He alleged that the condition of the mohalla clinics was "equally bad" as these clinics open only for four hours daily, and doctors and medicines have become "scarce" there.
Hitting out at the AAP government, Maken said the Delhi government has "woefully failed" to provide health care to the people at this critical time, which is a "violation of the Right to Life", guaranteed in the Constitution.
Delhi government, however, has asserted that adequate measures were in place, and "people should not panic".
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