PASIGHAT, 19 Oct: A team of scientists from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) project based at Tinsukia College, Assam, handed over educational materials on dengue and Japanese encephalitis (JE) to the office of the district malaria officer here in East Siang district recently.
The team handed over the materials to District Vector Borne Disease Control Programme Officer Dr K Lego on 17 October, ICMR project scientist Jimmy Sonam informed in a release.
The handbooks and IEC materials will be further delivered to the frontline healthcare workers.
The initiative is part of the ICMR-sponsored extramural investigator-initiated project titled ‘Determination of key factors in community behaviour, control and prevention of dengue and Japanese encephalitis in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh’, led by principal investigator Dr Nipen Nayak and co-principal investigator Dr Sharadindu Bordoloi.
The handbooks, designed as manuals for community health workers, along with IEC materials, focus on the symptoms, transmission cycles, and prevention strategies for dengue and JE. These resources were developed by the ICMR project team to strengthen community-level awareness and engagement.
As part of a weeklong awareness and sensitization campaign in Pasighat, the ICMR team, including Jyoti Soreng, Shabnam Kharia, Hemadri Chetri, and Dr Dulukanta Moran, conducted extensive outreach programmes aimed at promoting positive behavioural change to curb the spread of vector-borne diseases.
Awareness sessions were held at several educational institutions, including Donyi Polo Vidya Niketan School, Sri Sri Vidya Mandir School, and Democrat Bakin Pertin Residential English School.
Additionally, the team carried out door-to-door awareness activities in Bihari Colony – a locality identified as highly vulnerable to vector-borne disease outbreaks.
