With dengue claiming many lives across the country, the government is focusing in a big way on tackling vector-borne diseases, Secretary Health Research and ICMR Director General V M Katoch today said.

“Our focus in a big way is going to be on the vector borne diseases, primarily dengue and chikungunya,” Katoch told the news agency in Chandigarh this evening on the sidelines of a function at PGIMER.

“The Health Ministry is also going to launch a mass awareness programme on diabetes,” he said.

Asked about H1N1 or swine flu, which has already claimed several lives across the country since its outbreak last year, Katoch said that it would take about a year before the virus weakens.

“It (swine flu) is spreading to new pockets, but its ferocity is less. If the doctor is alert and patient is treated on time, there is no cause for worry,” he said.

Earlier, Katoch inaugurated the four-day programme of Indian Academy of Paediatrics-Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, UK-PGIMER course on “How to teach evidence-based medicine”.

Faculty from the University of London and Oxford will be holding classes to teach PGIMER doctors the latest on the practice of evidence-based medicine (EBM).

Delivering his keynote address on EBM, Katoch sounded a note of caution, saying individual societies, areas and geographical settings should be taken into consideration before going ahead.

Katoch said the need for caution arises when new things are applied, there are commercial groups who try to push their agenda and one needs to watch these.

In her address, Dr Ruth Gilbert of Royal College of Paediatricians, UK, explained why EBM was important.

“EBM is not just about keeping up to date, but keeping up with new advances and about implementing them,” she said.

Further stressing on importance of EBM, Gilbert said that sometimes delays can prove costly and gave example of how it took 20 years for steroids to be introduced for women in pre-term labour.