Chennai: With the number of deaths due to dengue and mystery fever being on the hike, the government had felt the need to increase awareness of the causes and symptoms, through an innovative way – with an app. Health secretary J. Radhakrishnan on Thursday launched the new ‘dengue fever Tamil’ app at Omandarur multi super speciality hospital in the city.
Health officials are of the hope that the information will reach far and wide through this new app, thereby, preventing unnecessary panic among the citizens. The health secretary said that the app gives information on regular medicines as well as on alternate medication like Siddha.
Explaining the functions, he said that the app has information on the different kinds of mosquitoes and what diseases they cause, details on regular medication as well as Siddha, an audio of the instructions and some short videos which involve celebrities and actors explaining the importance of immediate treatment and the need to refrain from panicking. The app also has a button that can call either the 104 or 108 helplines, as well as provide information on other control room helpline numbers.
The app also has a section on frequently asked questions for users and it can be downloaded from Google play store. “It is now available on android, but we are in the process of making it available on apple devices too,” said the health secretary.
