MUMBAI: After veteran film director Yash Chopra succumbed to dengue on Sunday, the citizens have become more aware and conscious about the deadly disease. The Union Park Residents Association (UPRA) that runs community radio 90.8 FM Jago Mumbai has launched a campaign on dengue.
Speaking with Radioandmusic.com about the campaign, UPRA secretary Bharti Kakkad said, “We have constantly been running informative capsules on various diseases with help from the BMC. But we realized that a better impact will be created if the officials come on-air and create awareness, thus we recorded the talk show on dengue with a pest control officer.”
A special talk show with the local pest control officer was aired on Sunday at 10am and 5pm. Apart from that the station also ran special one minute capsule on diseases like dengue, malaria and more every hour in English and Hindi.
The station will air the show every weekend and aims to reduce the frequency of the show once the citizens become fully aware of the preventive measures to be taken for the respective diseases. The capsules will also be aired on the station everyday.
As part of the on-ground activities, the UPRA is also distributing pamphlets and conducting several audits with the BMC doing pest control in housing societies and more. The UPRA has also been carrying out surveys from the past three years to check mosquito breeding in the area. But Kakkad states that such diseases cannot be controlled only by the government as they also require the awareness and understanding from the citizens to curb it.
“The government has been doing its bit but malaria and dengue cannot be controlled by them alone. It also requires understanding from the people. The govt has specific programmes for each society but they cannot visit each home so they try in different ways,” she added.
Apart from the campaign on dengue, the community radio station also features different talk shows including ‘Hello Doctor’ which focus on health issues like migraine, conjunctivitis and cancer amongst others. The show provides basic generic information to its listeners with the help of specialist doctors and specific capsules giving out information and creating awareness amongst the citizens.