Civic body to distribute booklets on malaria prevention…..Priya Prabhakaran
In an effort to involve citizens in the fight against malaria, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to distribute ‘5 Point Mission’ booklets in the city. The booklet is part of BMC’s mass awareness campaign ‘Mumbai against malaria,’ which will be held in collaboration with the Observer Research Foundation (ORF). It will be printed in nine languages, including English Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, Telegu, Tamil and Bengali.
The civic body’s ‘fight the bite’ mantra encourages people to prevent the spread of malaria in five easy measures. “We want people to remove water stored in containers at least once a week and dry utensils to break the mosquito cycle,” said additional municipal commissioner, Manisha Mhaiskar.
The other preventive measures include the use of mosquito nets, regular fogging, and consulting a doctor immediately on developing a fever. Symptoms of malaria and the BMC helpline numbers (1916 and 108) are also listed in the booklet.
“The booklet is one among the many initiatives launched by the BMC. One of the other proposals is to screen awareness messages at cinema halls,” said Riddhi Chokhawala, a research fellow at the ORF.