While there has been a long-standing demand that dengue be notified because of the rising number of cases in the city, the BMC has not even moved a proposal before the state government in this regard.
A disease is notified by a state government when it poses the threat of an epidemic or the cases are spiralling out of control. The process of notification means that it will become mandatory for private hospitals to report all cases of the disease to the BMC on a daily basis.
The corporation is not moving a proposal in this connection for various reasons. For example, it has sensed a loss of business and ensuing damage to the city's image of being a commercial hub globally that notifying the disease might result in. Add to this the possible non-cooperation on the part of private hospitals while reporting cases daily and dire consequences of medication than the disease itself.
"If dengue is notified, all hospitals in the city will have to report daily cases to BMC. There is no guarantee private parties will share with us authentic figures or may pass on all the cases, including suspected ones, to us for verification. This will give us an exorbitant number of cases, considering the number of private hospitals," said a senior civic official who did notwish to be named.
He also said that the corporation will also have to report the figures to the World Health Organization (WHO) every week if the disease is notified. "If WHO forms a wrong impression and feels something is wrong in Mumbai given the big numbers we will have, it can issue advisory to member countries, affecting business in the city. Hence, it is not advisable to notify the disease," claimed the official, adding the corporation has the proposal ready, but it had not been moved before the state government.
Civic authorities also said that the number of cases reported this year can't be considered as an epidemic. "It is not what Ebola is causing in other parts of the world," an official said.
They also refuted claims that dengue was notified in 1995 itself. "There was some confusion at the government-level. Officials there had referred to wrong documents. The disease is yet to be notified," he added.
Meanwhile, BMC authorities claimed that the process of fogging had been effective, contrary to allegations leveled by public representatives. "However, we must emphasize that people have to ensure cleanliness at a household-level and that there is no mosquito breeding taking place. This is because in 90 per cent of the total cases reported this year, mosquito breeding had occurred in the patients' residences," the official said.
This year, 19 persons lost lives due to dengue. Civic hospitals have reported more than 800 cases of the disease until now.
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