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From UP?s encephalitis hotspot, letters in blood to PM, Sonia
Maulshree Seth
Posted: Sep 13, 2011 at 0318 hrs IST
Lucknow Blaming both the Central and state governments for ?failing? to control encephalitis deaths in eastern Uttar Pradesh, more than 500 people from seven affected districts on Sunday wrote letters in blood to the President, Prime Minister, the Union Health Minister, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi.
Every year, hundred of children die from encephalitis and related diseases in these districts.
The letters demanded a National Encephalitis Eradication Programme, declaring encephalitis as a national health emergency and rehabilitation of survivors of the disease who are left with permanent ailments.
The campaign was organised by Dr RN Singh, a private practitioner in Gorakhpur who has been working for the eradication of encephalitis in the region.
In the past, he and his wife had written letters with their blood to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, then health minister Anbumani Ramadoss as well as Rahul Gandhi. He said he got a response from the Prime Minister?s office in 2009, but nothing changed and four to five children are dying every day.
As part of the campaign, Singh wrote a letter in his blood to Rahul Gandhi titled, ?Kisan yahan bhi hain (farmers are here as well...)?. He asked Rahul Gandhi also to listen to problems of farmers of eastern UP who lose their children every year to the deadly disease.
He asked Gandhi to pursue for a National Encephalitis Eradication Programme as the disease was killing children not just in UP but also in Bihar, Assam and other states.
?It is sad that in a democracy, citizens have to write letters with their own blood to draw attention to their problem,? said the 64-year-old campaigner.
He admitted that though government efforts in the past, especially JE vaccination, had substantially reduced Japanese encephalitis in the region, deaths due to other types of encephalitis viruses continued year after year.
?The point I want to make is that these deaths can be controlled with proper planning for clean drinking water, hygiene and timely treatment,? he said.
Singh said he was surprised with the response to his campaign even though it was not backed by any NGO or institution. ?I was surprised that so many volunteers decided to come forward to write letters in their blood. They were students, professionals, parents of the children affected by the disease and others,? he said.
Siraz Wajih, an environmentalist who participated in the campaign, said, ?I liked the idea of a National Encephalitis Eradication Programme floated by Dr RN Singh and decide to be part of the campaign.?
With Assembly elections approaching, Singh said volunteers would approach candidates of all parties in eastern UP and persuade them to put encephalitis eradication on their priority list.
Maulshree Seth
Posted: Sep 13, 2011 at 0318 hrs IST
Lucknow Blaming both the Central and state governments for ?failing? to control encephalitis deaths in eastern Uttar Pradesh, more than 500 people from seven affected districts on Sunday wrote letters in blood to the President, Prime Minister, the Union Health Minister, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi.
Every year, hundred of children die from encephalitis and related diseases in these districts.
The letters demanded a National Encephalitis Eradication Programme, declaring encephalitis as a national health emergency and rehabilitation of survivors of the disease who are left with permanent ailments.
The campaign was organised by Dr RN Singh, a private practitioner in Gorakhpur who has been working for the eradication of encephalitis in the region.
In the past, he and his wife had written letters with their blood to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, then health minister Anbumani Ramadoss as well as Rahul Gandhi. He said he got a response from the Prime Minister?s office in 2009, but nothing changed and four to five children are dying every day.
As part of the campaign, Singh wrote a letter in his blood to Rahul Gandhi titled, ?Kisan yahan bhi hain (farmers are here as well...)?. He asked Rahul Gandhi also to listen to problems of farmers of eastern UP who lose their children every year to the deadly disease.
He asked Gandhi to pursue for a National Encephalitis Eradication Programme as the disease was killing children not just in UP but also in Bihar, Assam and other states.
?It is sad that in a democracy, citizens have to write letters with their own blood to draw attention to their problem,? said the 64-year-old campaigner.
He admitted that though government efforts in the past, especially JE vaccination, had substantially reduced Japanese encephalitis in the region, deaths due to other types of encephalitis viruses continued year after year.
?The point I want to make is that these deaths can be controlled with proper planning for clean drinking water, hygiene and timely treatment,? he said.
Singh said he was surprised with the response to his campaign even though it was not backed by any NGO or institution. ?I was surprised that so many volunteers decided to come forward to write letters in their blood. They were students, professionals, parents of the children affected by the disease and others,? he said.
Siraz Wajih, an environmentalist who participated in the campaign, said, ?I liked the idea of a National Encephalitis Eradication Programme floated by Dr RN Singh and decide to be part of the campaign.?
With Assembly elections approaching, Singh said volunteers would approach candidates of all parties in eastern UP and persuade them to put encephalitis eradication on their priority list.
