OneWorld.net (U.S.)

About 80 per cent of families in north Chennai have, at least, one member affected by chikungunya.

This was one of the findings of a study, conducted by Karunalaya, a voluntary organisation involved in an awareness programme along with the Chennai Corporation for the past two weeks.

The organisation conducted a week-long door-to-door awareness campaign till Monday, covering 1,298 houses at VOC Nagar in Tondiarpet to educate the public on the causes of the disease, including an unclean environment.

The study revealed that water containers in about 60 per cent of the houses were breeding sites of mosquito larvae.

Though half of the population in the areas knew about the importance of keeping water containers clean, they did not practise it, it said.

Karunalaya also assisted the Corporation in conducting health camps, which covered about 500 people in areas of the Pulianthope zone in the second week of September.

The organisation trained 165 women self-help group leaders on Saturday in prevention and treatment of the disease.

Based on the findings, the organisation would conduct an awareness rally to educate the public on breeding places of mosquito larvae.

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