The corporation will train MCD school teachers, who will in turn spread awareness in the community. The teachers will also randomly visit students’ homes to check if they have starting taking precautions — like not allowing water to accumulate in coolers — against vector and water-borne diseases at their homes.

MCD health committee chairman, Dr V K Monga, told Newsline this drive would begin once the new session commences. Last week, Monga held a meeting with Delhi Mayor Arti Mehra, wherein plans to tackle possible outbreaks of such diseases were discussed. “We have picked up this concept from Pondicherry. In a recent trip to Mumbai and Pondicherry, the health committee came across useful models of disease control. In Pondicherry, the message of health awareness is spread through school children. First teachers are given training on how these diseases can be prevented. These teachers then impart this training to schoolchildren, who in turn share the information at their homes and neighbourhoods. This is an effective way of spreading awareness in the community,” Monga said.

The corporation will also take out rallies from different schools in the community to spread awareness. Handbills and pamphlets giving information about these diseases will also be distributed in the community though school children. The corporation also plans to hold programmes like poster-making competitions among children to creatively teach them ways of disease prevention, Monga said. Monga said team members met the municipal health officer and other health officials of Mumbai during the health committee’s recent trip to Chennai and Mumbai and discussed means to control vector and water-borne diseases.