A boy sits inside a mosquito net at the BBH’s dengue ward in Rawalpindi. PHOTO: NNI
Health officials monitoring sensitive areas previously have been removed over poor performance.
Under the plan, Potohar Town and cantonment boards have been split into four zones, six sectors and 34 clusters. The teams comprising health department and 700 sanitary control workers will work under these in-charges. Each cluster in-charge will oversee three union councils (UCs).
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Ten wards each of Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) and Chakala Cantonment Board (CCB) have been bifurcated into two clusters. The dengue sensitive areas including Airport Housing Society, Gulbahar Colony, Wakeel Colony, Kot Jabi, Nawaz Colony and VIP Colony have been declared as separate cluster centers where the in-charge for each has also been deployed.
All cluster centers have been equipped with necessary kits, sprays and medicines while the entire programme would be monitored by the Rawalpindi DC Muhammad Ali Randhawa. The teams will work from 8am to 4pm daily and submit a daily report to cluster in-charges whereas these in-charges would further submit report of their respective clusters to deputy commissioner (DC) at 7pm on a regular basis.
All zones will be looked after by Additional Deputy Commissioners (ADCs) Maliha Jamal, Saima Younis, Rizwan Qadeer and the RDA director.
The cluster in-charge for most affected dengue area Gulbahar Colony would be Dr Hamid while Chaudhry Nisar would monitor Airport Housing Society.
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City Assistant Commissioners (ACs) Madam Naeem Afzal, Amber Gillani, Mehreen Faheem, Rafakat Gondal, Kamran Khan, and Shahid Imran will oversee operations in six sectors.
The cluster in-charge for Kot Jabbi and Wakeel Colony include Horticulture Authority Director Sheikh Tariq and RDA Deputy Director Ali Imran respectively.
The Local Government Deputy Director Mirza Jehangir will oversee Nawaz Colony while Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) Director Saleem Ashraf has been given the responsibility to monitor operations in VIP Colony.
Civil Defense Department (CDD) District Officer Talib Hussain has been appointed as cluster in-charge of UCs five to eight of Rawat.
Talib Hussain claimed that recent measures would reduce dengue cases in next two weeks.
Rising figure
The government has failed to control dengue outbreak in the district despite rigorous efforts. Up to 65 more dengue positive patients, including 56 from Potohar Town, were brought to different hospitals in the last 24 hours owing to which the collective figure of patients has risen to 773.
On directives by the Punjab government, the Punjab Director Infectious Diseases Department Shahnaz Naseem visited the allied hospitals in Rawalpindi along with her team on Saturday.
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Meanwhile, anticipating influx of dengue patients, the government has decided to convert medical ward in Benazir Bhutto General Hospital (BBGH) into a dengue ward. There are currently 94 patients in the dengue ward of BBGH which can accommodate up to 150 patients. The medical ward would be shifted to the Red Crescent building.
Similarly, the Federal Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed has ordered to allocate an entire ward in Railway Hospital for dengue patients.
The district administration has also directed to increase number of beds in District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital and Holy Family Hospital.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 1st, 2019.
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