CM orders hiring of 1,000 doctors on urgent basis

Says healthcare staff working in dengue wards to be awarded

RAWALPINDI: Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has announced recruitment of 1,000 doctors, medical and paramedical staff through walk-in interviews to overcome shortage of staff in anti-dengue campaign.

He was chairing a meeting in commissioner office on Tuesday which was attended by Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid, health secretary, lawmakers from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) along with administrative and police officers of the district.

CM Buzdar said doctors and nurses working in hospitals under the campaign would be awarded with emergency allowance on basis of performance. The monitoring cells are working in offices of chief minister and chief secretary, he added.

CM said that district commissioners (DCs) of Lahore and Rawalpindi have been sacked on laxity in anti-dengue campaign and added he would personally monitor the campaign in Rawalpindi.

K-P CM orders pragmatic, emergency measures to tackle dengue

He also instructed secretary primary and secondary health to stay in Rawalpindi and that six new filter clinics in Rawalpindi would be established for dengue patients while three mobile health units have already reached the garrison city.

Buzdar said: “We should fight dengue instead of being afraid of it.” He instructed the district administration to expedite the campaign in the city.

The administration should focus on clinical management in treatment of patients while quality surveillance should be ensured for identification of dengue larvae, he added.

CM directed that walks and seminars be organised in order to create awareness among people. He asserted that measures in the campaign would be assessed via third party evaluation while he expressed that virus would be eliminated with continuous and concrete efforts.

He highlighted the role public representatives could play in the ongoing campaign.

Later, Buzdar visited Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) and inquired after health of admitted patients. Talking to media there, he said that Punjab government would utilise all resources needed in anti-dengue campaign. He said that efforts for eradication of virus and treatment of patients were being expedited.

“I have personally come to Rawalpindi to review the situation and have talked with the local leadership of PTI,” he said.

The official left for Sargodha after completing his visit.



Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza said that Punjab had been most affected by the dengue epidemic.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad on Tuesday, he said that countrywide figure of dengue cases had escalated to 11,783 while most cases were from Punjab, where 2,827 people were infected. Of these, Zafar added, around 84 per cent cases have emerged from Potohar Town of Rawalpindi.

Regarding dearth of beds in federal hospitals, Zafar said that private sector had offered them around 1,000 beds but they were facing no shortage at the moment and added “We will make use of them if needed.”

The official noted healthcare facilities for dengue patients in public hospitals in Islamabad and said that medicines and test kits to diagnose virus were available in sufficient quantity in all hospitals.

Mirzar said that he was making emergency visits to hospitals and expressed that healthcare facilities there were satisfactory.

Mirza said that the federal government has started special Dengue Outpatient Department (OPD) at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) to serve the patients round the clock.

In Pakistan, dengue victim count soars past 10,000

He said that the timing of OPDs in other federal capital hospitals have been extended while a referral system has been developed to shift the serious patients to major hospitals.

He said that there was no shortage of dengue treatment medicines and testing kits and sufficient quantity of such medical items have been purchased and handed over to the hospitals.

Accoring to SAPM, 16 Basic Health Units and two dispensaries of federal capital had also been activated to give initial treatment to dengue patients and refer them to major hospitals on serious condition.

Mirza said that he was personally monitoring the facilities for dengue patients at allocated wards of federal capital hospital and making improvements on the suggestions of patients and attendants.

He said that beds for dengue patients had already been increased at Pims while additional staff had been deputed to properly look after the admitted patients. He said that special study would be conducted in the coming days to find out reasons behind spread of dengue in this region. 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2019.