Don’t deny treatment to dengue, chikungunya patients: HC

New Delhi, Sep 20 (PTI) Concerned over rise in dengue andchikungunya cases which have claimed several lives, Delhi HighCourt today asked city hospitals run by the Centre and AAPgovernment not to deny treatment to patients as it passed aslew of directions in the matter. A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice SangitaDhingra Sehgal ordered that steps be taken by both governmentsto increase the strength of doctors, nurses and other staff intheir hospitals by engaging "retired personnel, if sorequired, to meet the exigencies". "The Government of India as well as Government of NCT ofDelhi shall take effective steps to ensure that the dengue/chikungunya patients are not denied treatment/admission in anyof the hospital (government/private) of Delhi. …assistanceof NGOs who are involved in such activities may also betaken," the court said. The direction came on a plea filed by advocate ShahidAli, who has accused the two governments and the municipalcorporations here of not acting vigilantly and responsibly tocontrol dengue, a mosquito-borne tropical disease. On August 17, the court had disposed of two petitions onthe same issue observing that several measures stated to havebeen undertaken have not reached the public at large and thespread of the diseases was playing havoc with the lives of theinhabitants of Delhi. "Dengue is one of the major public health challenges inDelhi especially during Monsoon and the prevailing situationin relation to dengue, in our considered opinion, needs moreeffective steps to control the damage," it had said. The court had also directed the authorities concerned totake appropriate steps for periodical visits of houses, moreparticularly those located in slum areas, for prevention ofmosquito breeding by adopting necessary measures such asfogging and spraying of insecticides by the municipal bodies.(more) PTI PPS ABA HMPARC