Date:01/10/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/10/01/stories/2006100110480100.htm

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Priests roped in to check chikungunya

Ramya Kannan

Over 1,200 temples, 600 mosques and 450 churches to be covered

PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

ORIENTATION SESSION: Corporation officials brief mullahs in a mosque in Anna Nagar.

CHENNAI: The fight against the Aedes aegypti mosquito in Chennai has just been taken a few notches higher, with the Corporation involving heads of religious institutions.

The civic body has decided that the best way to control the rampage of the chikungunya-carrier is through community involvement. Priests in churches and temples and mullahs in mosques will talk to devotees about the mosquito menace, the nature of chikungunya and where to seek help.

A statement to be read out in temples, mosques and churches contains information about the breeding sources of the vector (inside homes), the various containers for the larvae, how to get rid of the larvae and stem mosquito breeding. The message has to reach the people through others they trust and listen to," Corporation Health Officer (In-charge) P.Kuganantham said. Over 1,200 temples, 600 mosques and 450 churches would be covered.

The civic body also involved students in over 350 schools as health ambassadors. It would revive the campaign after pooja holidays.