A matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’

When Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network (GOARN) issues a warning, it is best to sit up straight & pay attention

When the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) issues a warning, it is best to sit up straight and pay attention. The Zika virus has been on the Pakistan event horizon since the reporting in Brazil of microcephalic babies linked to pregnant women being bitten by the mosquito that is the vector for the virus. That mosquito is the Aedes Aegypti and it is the same strain that carries dengue fever. Pakistan has annual outbreaks of dengue fever that vary in severity and location. There is a long-established set of interventions to counter the dengue threat, and those same interventions will work just as well if the mosquito is carrying the Zika virus.

The new alert is very specific, and GOARN is saying that mosquitoes carrying Zika have been found in Pakistan, but as yet there are no reports of children being born with any of the birth defects being associated with it in other parts of the world. Unfortunately, it is only a matter of time before such an event occurs, but forewarned is forearmed, and Pakistan is not defenceless in the face of this latest threat. The health sector is said to be on high alert and has been urged to devise a national strategy to counter Zika. Given the existence of the anti-dengue infrastructure, this should be a matter of routine rather than starting from scratch. Again unfortunately, this is not always the case, and whilst Punjab “has revolutionised the vector control aspect of the disease”, the same cannot be said for everywhere else in the country. Winter has passed, spring rains are forecast and there is inevitably going to be standing water that is the breeding ground for the mosquito. The capacity to effectively fight Zika already exists; the challenge is going to be ensuring that every province has a strategy in place, is adequately funded and equipped, and has sufficient supplies of both chemical spray and manpower to knock Zika down before it has a chance to establish itself. Judging by events in Brazil, a failure to do so brings truly appalling consequences.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2016.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.