Dengue campaign: 23 teams set up to check factories for larvae

Next 15 days crucial, says Health Department expert.

LAHORE:

Twenty-three teams have been set up to check that factories in the city are clear of breeding sites for dengue mosquito larvae and to make sure that equipment needed to combat any dengue emergency is available, said Dengue Response Committee Chairman Haji Allah Rakha, an MPA, on Saturday.

Addressing a meeting in connection with dengue control at the Cantonment courts, Allah Rakha said that the teams would do their work between October 6 and 10, according to a press release. He said that factories must arrange for fire-fighting equipment, alarms and emergency exits within three days, if they did not have them already, or face legal action.

The MPA said that besides taking preventive measures to reduce the population of the dengue mosquito, the government was trying to raise public awareness of the disease. He said that the general population knew far more about the disease this year than last and as a result, this year’s dengue outbreak had been a lot less severe than last year’s.

Officers of the departments concerned briefed the meeting on various anti-dengue efforts. They said that water bodies in the city had been dried or stocked with larvae-eating fish to prevent mosquito breeding.

Dr Nauman of the Health Department told the Response Committee that dengue mosquito larvae had been found at 39 places in the last three days including five open sites in residential areas. He said that because water bodies had been dried up, the dengue mosquito was looking for breeding sites within houses. He said that the next 15 days would be crucial. He said the public must follow the advice of experts in not leaving any standing water in their properties to deprive the mosquito of places to breed.

1,818 jobs approved for anti-dengue programme

Seminars, awareness campaigns, social mobilisation and walks would continue to educate people about dengue fever under the Prevention and Control of Epidemics Programme, Health Department officials told The Express Tribune on Saturday.

The officials said 1,818 contract jobs had been approved by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in January 2012 for the programme.

“The employees were initially hired on one-year contracts but the government, later, decided to run the programme on the model of the Malarial Eradication Programme. The decision has been taken after reviewing the performance of this programme,” a senior official said. There are 836 posts in Lahore, 235 in Rawalpindi, 170 in Multan, 374 in Faisalabad and 198 in Gujranwala. The posts range from Grade 1 to 19 and include operations manager, partnership manager, enforcement manager, training manager, entomologists, assistant entomologists, data entry operators, communicable disease control supervisors, lady health workers, sanitary patrol inspectors and accountants.

Vector Borne Diseases Additional Director General Dr Jafar Ilays, who is heading the programme, said some 1,500 posts had been filled since he assumed office. “There is a Dengue Control Cell in the Health Department under which this programme works. PCEP employees’ contract was initially for one year but they may continue to work as long as this programme continues,” he said.

Dr Ilays has worked with the World Health Organisation (WHO) under a surveillance of diseases programme.

“In Lahore, we have nine entomologists, one for every town. They work to prevent dengue mosquito breeding. This strategy makes fogging or spraying of insecticides unnecessary,” he said.

“To date, 216 dengue patients have been reported across the Punjab since February and no death has taken place. Last year, some 15,000 patients had been reported till October,” he said.

Another official said Rs300 million had been allocated for this programme this year. He said a Cabinet Review Committee on Dengue had also been formed. “There are also dengue surveillance committees in every town, which are supervised by the local MNAs and MPAs,” the official said.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2012.