Annual campaign: Imagining Dengue Se Paak Pakistan

Campaign launched by Health Department and Mortein-Reckitt Benckiser Pakistan

LAHORE: Dengue Se Paak Pakistan – an awareness campaign – was launched by the Health Department on Wednesday. “We are working at the grassroots level to ensure that this disease does not rear its ugly head in the Punjab,” Adviser to Chief Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique said on the occasion.

The Dengue Se Paak Pakistan campaign will focus on preventing a dengue fever epidemic by informing people about various measures they could take.

Rafique said more than 60,000 cases of dengue fever had been reported in the country over the last five years.

“In 2015, KPK had 1,397 reported cases of dengue fever, Sindh had 3,692 cases and Punjab 4,281,” he said.

Most of the cases had been reported from semi-urban areas and major metropolitan cities, he said. “However, unplanned settlements and rural areas are equally vulnerable.”

He said the most important aspect of the campaign was to ensure that all citizens had the knowhow on how to avoid mosquito-borne diseases. The Local Government Community Department has also been taken on board the mission to curb the spread of dengue fever this year.

He said the government had been working hard to inform people about protection from mosquito-borne diseases, especially dengue fever.

Under the Dengue Se Paak, Pakistan campaign, the government will target high-risk districts and union councils in the Punjab. They will hold several activities and will employ innovative approaches to generate maximum impact and learning.

“We appreciate the private sector’s support for the campaign,” he said. “This initiative will help us reach out to Punjab’s larger population by empowering and enabling families to take proactive measures to avoid another dengue fever epidemic.”

The campaign has been launched in collaboration with Mortein (Reckitt Benckiser Pakistan) and Plan International.

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan sang a song at the event encapsulating the message of the campaign. The song, written for this campaign, will help workers spread the awareness message far and wide, speakers said.

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