Watch: Encephalitis, killer of Uttar Pradesh's children

In an exclusive CNN-IBN coverage on the encephalitis — a water or mosquito borne viral disease — break out in Gorakphur, Uttar Pradesh, it is revealed that nearly 500 children have died in the last two months due to the deadly disease and there are no signs that the epidemic will be contained. While the focus of most national health campaigns in India around children remains on polio, this killer which has been striking the region for the last three decades remains largely ignored.

As CNN-IBN revealed the Uttar Pradesh government had doled out a measly sum of Rs 22 crores to counter the disease which is killing children in the region at an alarming rate. What makes the situation worse is that the area has only one hospital which is large enough to cope with the crisis with a capacity of 40 doctors, most of whom are broken emotionally and mentally thanks to the strain of seeing nearly all the admitted children die.

Working with bare minimum resources, the doctors have launched a campaign to ensure that this be treated a national epidemic, but the Uttar Pradesh government has not responded.

The video below reveals the shocking state of the public healthcare system that is available to the poor in the country. The issue is complicated further by the fact that this current stream of encephalitis is caused by the contaminated drinking water and hygiene that prevails in the region. The chances of survival for children suffering from this disease are low because the children suffer from low immunity.

Watch the complete video below: