LAHORE: Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif on Sunday said dengue in the province had been controlled to a large extent and urged the public to join the battle against the disease.
Speaking to the media at the Chief Minister house after attending a workshop on the epidemic, he said that it would be difficult to contain the spread of the disease without public participation and practical measures.
He said the team of medical experts from Sri Lanka were helping the government overcome the disease and thanked the Sri Lankan government for its assistance.
Sharif said that there were no shortcuts to eradicating dengue, however its spread could be contained through short and long term measures, citing the examples of Thailand and Sri Lanka and how they overcame the disease.
Referring to the pictorial evidence provided by the Lankan experts, after a survey of Lahore, he said it was shocking to learn that the pest developed in the most unexpected of places.
Sharif said that water collected from air conditioners, moisture in generators and flower pots proved to be breeding grounds for the mosquito.
He said it was clear that wide spread spraying and fogging in public places was indispensable to eliminating the eggs and the mosquito itself and that the government was committed on continuing its battle against the disease but in cooperation with all segments of civil society.
Sharif said the government was also setting targets to prevent the disease outbreak next year and advised the public to participate in keeping all vicinities clear of stagnant water and un-tended garbage.
Earlier it was reported that six more patients had died of the fever in Lahore bringing the total number of deaths in Punjab to 37.
Dengue has been growing at an exponential rate in the province with around 413 cases reported in the past 24 hours.
The number of patients in Punjab reached over 6,000, out of which 5,715 belong to Lahore alone.
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Let me stick my neck out and say that the moment this epidemic is over we will all forget about dengue until next year when it all happens again. Our governments fail to understand the simple maxim : Prevention is better than cure.