District Entomologist posts remain vacant in over 40 Health Unit Districts in T.N.
Tamil Nadu is facing a critical shortage of District Entomologists, with over 40 of 45 Health Unit Districts currently lacking these essential experts. This vacancy threatens the state's ability to effectively plan and monitor vector-borne disease control, particularly as dengue cases rise.
Why it matters
The lack of specialized technical staff undermines public health surveillance and evidence-based disease control, increasing the risk of uncontrolled outbreaks.
With dengue cases on the rise, the post of District Entomologists is lying vacant in more than 40 of the 45 Health Unit Districts (HUD) in Tamil Nadu. District Entomologists play a critical role in vector-borne disease control, and the existing vacancies may adversely impact the planning and monitoring of dengue control activities.
According to the Tamil Nadu Public Health Entomologists Association, 48 posts of the total 60 sanctioned posts of Senior Entomologists were vacant in the State. As a result, more than 40 HUDs were functioning without a District Malaria Officer/District Entomologist/Senior Entomologist. Each HUD has one District Entomologist, while there are senior entomologist positions in government medical colleges and at the Directorate of Public Health (DPH) and Preventive Medicine.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in