Civic body launches awareness campaign on monsoon ailments

Mumbai: The monsoon is likely to arrive in Mumbai within a week and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has swung into action to raise awareness about water and vector- borne diseases. Unlike previous years, this year, along with monsoon-related diseases, the BMC will also spread awareness about non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

The civic body has launched a citywide campaign to spread awareness about NCDs such as diabetes, hypertension, heart attack and cancer among others. Additionally, the civic body will train private doctors running their own clinics in the city to identify monsoon-related diseases.

Dr Padmaja Keskar, executive health officer, BMC, told The Asian Age, “As soon as the monsoon arrives in the city, cases of leptospirosis, dengue, malaria and swine-flu will mount. Half of the cases get detected late.  Even the educated population goes on self-medication, which is dangerous. Taking all these things into account, raising awareness is the need of the hour. So the BMC will soon start a campaign to raise awareness about these diseases across the city,” she said. The BMC will also spread awareness about NCDs along with monsoon-related diseases. It will launch its awareness campaign at railway stations and bus depots across the city.

An officer from the BMC health department said that along with spreading awareness, it will also train private doctors to diagnose diseases accurately. I

The BMC has trained over 1,000 doctors from civic hospitals. The civic body will start training of private practitioners from June 5.