Ramadoss gets stung in Cabinet

Rajesh Sinha and Javed Ansari

NEW DELHI: Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss, under fire during the Cabinet meeting on Thursday over the spread of dengue, said there is no epidemic, the situation is under control and the scare is due to media hype.

The issue was reportedly raised by Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy and others had joined in, displaying newspapers replete with stories about Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s grand-children having contracted the disease.

When Ramadoss protested, saying that the fever was a regular annual phenomenon, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad replied: “Hamare ghar mein bachche bahar jaane mein darte hain (our children are afraid to go out),” he said.

Tourism Minister Ambika Soni said the news of the disease is affecting the tourism sector adversely. “The BBC and CNN were running stories about the disease which is spreading fear among foreigners and scaring them off,” she said.
He was told to take steps to stop the disease from spreading.

Ramadoss presented facts and figures which stated that there have been only 2954 dengue cases this year and a total of 38 deaths in the country as against the 11,900 cases and 151 deaths reported last year. In Delhi, there have been 673 cases and 15 deaths.

He also said the disease “was more of a sanitation problem than a health problem” and it is also the responsibility of the public to control it.