Why chikungunya patients will not be compensated, asks High Court

The High Court has issued a rule asking why it will not order authorities to compensate patients diagnosed with mosquito-borne viral disease, chikungunya.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 9 July 2017, 08:05 AM
Updated : 9 July 2017, 08:54 AM

Secretaries to the ministries of health and local government, the two Dhaka mayors and chief executives of the north and south city corporations have been ordered to come up with explanations within three weeks.

On Sunday, the court issued the rule after hearing a petition filed by a lawyer amid the spate of the viral disease in the capital.

The rule also asked why insecticides should not be used to exterminate mosquitos in chikungunya-affected areas of the country and why immediate steps should not be taken to clean the Dhaka City Corporation’s dumping stations and inform the public about the disease.

The petitioners were represented by lawyer Suja Uddowla at the hearing, while the state was represented by Deputy Attorney General Amit Talukder.

According to the state counsel, two court officials are currently suffering from chikungunya.

Chikungunya was first described during an outbreak in southern Tanzania in 1952.

The virus belongs to the alphavirus genus of the family Togaviridae. The name “chikungunya” derives from a word in the Kimakonde language, meaning “to become contorted”, and describes the stooped appearance of sufferers with joint pain.

The symptoms of dengue and chikungunya are almost similar but joint pains are more severe in cases of chikungunya, according to doctors.

“Chikungunya patients can hardly move due to severe body ache and joint pains,” said Dr SM Alamgir of Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research. Other symptoms include muscle ache, chills, rashes and nausea.

Residents living in 23 neighbourhoods of Dhaka face greater risks of contracting the disease, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.