‘Big shout out to Uttar Pradesh government’, UNICEF lauds CM Adityanath’s DASTAK campaign against Japanese Encephalitis

In a big achievement for the Yogi Adityanath, the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) India has lauded his government in Uttar Pradesh for successfully immunising all children of the state against Japanese Encephalitis and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome. UNICEF took to Twitter to praise the UP government. “A big shout out to #UttarPradesh for immunizing every child in the state against Japanese Encephalitis and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome under the #Dastak campaign! ??#VaccinesWork for #DimagiBukharSeJung,” UNICEF tweeted.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath had launched ‘Dastak campaign’ in the 38 affected districts of Uttar Pradesh. DASTAK campaign is part of the comprehensive Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) strategy embraced by state government to beat encephalitis. As part of the campaign, the whole state machinery with help of UNICEF went door to door in 38 JES (Japanese Encephalitis) and AE (Acute Encephalitis syndrome) affected districts, mostly falling in the Tarai region of the state which contributes to about 60% of total AES cases all over the country. State departments including health, rural development, primary education work together to spread awareness about the disease through mass media, initiate sanitation drive and ensure timely vaccination.

On April 2, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had flagged off a programme in Pipraich to eradicate Japanese Encephalitis. The programme, which included vaccination drive against Encephalitis and cleanliness drive, concluded on April 16. Yogi Adityanath had said that Eastern Uttar Pradesh and 38 districts are majorly affected from Encephalitis, and hence the government will conduct vaccination drive against Japanese Encephalitis, and cleanliness drive and provision of pure water for prevention from acute encephalitis syndrome.

Under the programme, adequate medical care was ensured, along with imparting training to paramedical staff and paediatrics. Yogi Adityanath had then said that the programme will be successful in eradicating Encephalitis from the state, and especially the 38 districts.

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a serious infection caused by the Japanese encephalitis virus. It occurs mainly in rural parts of Asia and spreads through the bite of an infected mosquito. It is higher for people living in areas where the disease is common, or for people travelling there for long periods of time.Most people infected with JE have symptoms such as fever and headache, or as serious as encephalitis (brain infection). A person with encephalitis can experience fever, neck stiffness, seizures, and coma.