Infectious diseases: Govt depts told to implement SOPs for dengue control

Punjab govt asked to carry out polio campaign more effectively

LAHORE: Chief Secretary Zahid Saeed has directed all government departments to ensure implementation of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for dengue control.

Addressing a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Dengue Control at the committee room of the Punjab Civil Secretariat, the chief secretary said that next two months were critical with regard to dengue control. He said there was no room for negligence. He said that all government departments had been taking dengue control measures for the last many years.

Additional Chief Secretary Shamail Ahmad Khawaja, Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Secretary Najam Ahmed Shah, Primary and Secondary Health Secretary Ali Jan Khan, King Edward Medical University Vice Chancellor Faisal Masood, senior officials of various departments, the health services director general, head of Chief Minister’s Dengue Research Cell, divisional commissioners and district coordination officers attended the meeting chaired by Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique. The chief secretary directed the officials to pay special attention to dengue control measures in Rawalpindi. He said the provincial government was ready to provide extra resources to district governments for dengue control. He said that Special Branch’s report on performance of various departments engaged in dengue control should be given importance and gaps in the dengue control strategy should be plugged immediately. Earlier, Dengue Control Additional Director General Fayyaz Butt briefed the meeting about the current situation and dengue surveillance in the province. Keeping in view last year’s experience in Rawalpindi, Rafique said, there was a need to work with more dedication to control dengue in the garrison city. He said the local cable network should be used to educate people about community’s role in dengue control. He directed the officials to hold meetings with administrations of private hospitals for implementation of guidelines issued by the Dengue Expert Advisory Group for case management.  The additional chief secretary said that data of the doctors who had imparted case management training to various people under the aegis of the Dengue Expert Advisory Group should be compiled. Commissioner of the Gujranwala Division and district coordination officers of Lahore, Sheikhupura, Kasur, Nankana Sahib, Attock, Jhelum, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and Multan briefed the meeting about anti-dengue measures in their districts.  At a separate meeting, participants called upon the Punjab government to intensify vigilance and monitoring to make the upcoming polio campaign more effective in Lahore and Rawalpindi. The national immunisation campaign will continue from September 26 to 28.  Rafique chaired the EPI Steering Committee meeting at the Emergency Operation Centre at the Directorate General of Health Services. Technical experts from the UNICEF, the WHO and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation attended the meeting. The EPI Steering Committee guides the provincial Expanded Programme on Immunisation on key decisions. It consists of medical specialists, paediatricians, health managers and EPI experts. It was decided at the meeting that the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department would mop up diphtheria in the Kasur district. EPI Director Munir Ahmed presented a detailed analysis of last month’s diphtheria outbreak in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and its fall out in the Punjab.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2016.