Uttar Pradesh’s success against Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and Japanese Encephalitis (JE) stand as a remarkable public health turnaround in recent times. For decades, encephalitis ravaged eastern UP. By 2017, nearly 50,000 lives were lost to AES and JE. Poor water quality, malnutrition, unhygienic living conditions, and inadequate sanitation created fertile ground for transmission, while crippled health infrastructure compounded the crisis. It was against this grim backdrop that the issue became central to the 2017 election campaign, when PM Modi pledged decisive action.
