Mumbai: In a major boost to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and Maharashtra government’s morale, the World Health Organization (WHO) has lauded their success over the Covid-19 outbreak in Dharavi – Asia’s largest slum.
WHO Director-General, Tedros A. Ghebreyesus, at a press conference late Friday, referred to the achievements made in the Dharavi among other similar examples globally.
“Even in Dharavi, a densely packed area in Mumbai, a strong focus on community engagement and the basics of testing, tracing, isolating and treating all those that are sick is key to breaking the chains of transmission, and suppressing the virus,” Ghebreyesus said.
In this context, he pointed out that there are many, many examples from around the world that have shown that even if the Covid-19 outbreak is very intense, it can still be brought back under control, as in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, New Zealand, Italy, Spain and South Korea.
Responding quickly, the BMC said: “Thank You, WHO for acknowledging #MissionDharavi where it partnered with citizens to ‘Chase the Virus’ from one of the most populous blocks of the city.” (sic)
“With your guidelines and Mumbai’s community efforts, we will beat Covid-19 one block at a time by Tracing, Tracking, Testing and Treating,” the BMC’s return tweet said.
Ghebreyesus also stressed the need for community participation and collective solidarity akin to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s appeal two days ago for forming Corona Vigilance Committees right down to the village levels, and asking NGOs to adopt Mumbai slums with public partnership to beat the coronavirus.
Reacting to the WHO DG’s comments, Health Minister Rajesh Tope admitted that “we have worked very hard from day one along with the people of Dharavi” and even in Malegaon, Nashik, and now the results are showing in both places.
PNN & Agencies