Surveillance: Accelerate efforts against dengue, Rafique tells Cabinet Commitee

Calls for action against hospitals not participating in training courses on dengue virus.

LAHORE:

Adviser to Chief Minister Khwaja Salman Rafique on Monday ordered that dengue fever surveillance activities be expedited.

He told a Cabinet Committee on Dengue Control there should be strict monitoring of surveillance teams covering the areas where dengue larvae had been detected.

The adviser said that action should be taken against private hospitals who were found not participating in training courses related to the dengue virus.

Earlier, Rafique was briefed about the measures taken to check the breeding of dengue larvae.

Health Secretary Ijaz Munir said 11 cases of dengue fever had been reported in the province in the last eight months. All the patients had recovered, he said.

Representatives of various departments informed the adviser about steps taken to eradicate dengue larvae in graveyards, junkyards, tyre shops, construction sites and mosques.

The meeting was informed that larvae were mostly found in desert coolers.



In charge of Chief Minister’s Dengue Research Cell Prof Wasim Akram said use of the coolers had stopped with the change in weather. He urged citizens to drain water from coolers to avoid breeding of larvae.

Somia Iqtidar, a representative of the Dengue Experts Advisory Group, said that private hospitals had been arranging courses on dengue fever management.

The Special Branch deputy inspector general presented a report on anti-dengue measures adopted by various departments. He also highlighted shortcomings in this regard.

National Assembly Member Shaista Pervaiz Malik, Punjab Assembly Member Pir Ashraf Rasool, Health Services Director General Zahid Pervaiz, secretaries of the departments concerned and district coordination officers from Gujranwala, Lahore and Faisalabad attended the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 19^th, 2014.