Mumbai corporators to help tackle malaria rise

After an alarming rise in malaria cases in the city, including another death on Saturday, an urgent meeting on handling the disease was called by Uddhav Thackeray, executive president of Shiv Sena, with Mumbai mayor Shraddha Jadhav, Dr Sanjay Oak, health director, MLA Deepak Sawant and deans of all major peripheral and secondary municipal hospitals in the city.

A decision was made for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to rope in all corporators, who in turn will run health camps with medical officers in their wards.

“If we compare the figures of June 2009, the number of patients was 6,313 and in June this year it is 8,855. But the number of deaths has come down,” said Oak. Twenty four deaths have occurred till June.