Media campaign effective in combating heat wave mortality by Saudamini Das

In the eastern Indian state of Odisha, for instance, some 2,000 people died in a heat wave in 1998. In 2015, heat waves hit a number of states in India including Delhi, with deaths numbering more than 2,500. A majority of the deaths were in the eastern states of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. In response to the 1998 heat wave crisis, the Odisha government introduced a number of awareness campaigns that alerted people to the dangers posed by heat waves. They also provided advice on how people should protect themselves. The campaigns were continued in subsequent years and intensified from 2007 with the use of multiple electronic media.

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