A+| A| A-
A Preventable Loss
A sense of urgency must infuse measures in dealing with acute encephalitis syndrome.
It is said that there is no tragedy in life like the death of a child, because things never get back to the way they were. If this is so, what is to be made of the deaths of 153 children
(official figure) due to acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district in the past few months? According to reports, this disease has afflicted the district since 1995, and between 2010 and 2014 has killed nearly 1,000 children. Just the knowledge of this should have set the nation into passionate and massive efforts to wipe out the disease or at least control it on an urgent footing. Instead, year after year, the media and public sphere witness a set routine. Pictures of hollow-eyed parents holding the limp and lifeless bodies of their children are benumbing. On the other hand are the reports speculating on the causes of the disease. The political class and ruling dispensations, especially at the state level, reel out explanations and statements that give no indication of consistent and strategic measures to ward off the health tragedy. It has been no different this time around.
Dear Reader,
Or
To gain instant access to this article (download).
(Readers in India)
(Readers outside India)
