‘Preventive steps must to curb dengue’

Deputy Commissioner Sargodha Abdullah Nayyer Sheikh said that dengue could be controlled by following preventive measures. Chairing a meeting to review anti-dengue arrangements, he underlined the need for effective utilisation of all available resources to check the occurrence of dengue larvae, particularly in those union councils from where dengue patients were reported last year. He said the staff deployed for anti-dengue drive had been briefed that no negligence would be tolerated and directed them to ensure 100 per cent attendance. He directed the DHO to verify the blood tests and take action against the fake laboratories. The meeting was informed that CBC tests were conducted of 180 suspected patients across the district during the last three days and none of them were found to have any effect of dengue fever. DHO Dr Sohail Asghar Qazi said that 548 indoor teams had checked 43,919 houses, while 167 outdoor teams visited 12,356 places and dengue larvae were found in 10 union councils at four indoor and seven outdoor sites. He further said that 4,811 sites had been covered out of 5,174 hotspots across the district. ADCG Bilal Feroze Joyia, CEO Health Dr Rai Samiullah, MS DHQ Teaching Hospital Dr Ghulam Shabbir Tahir, CEO Education Riaz Qadeer Bhatti, DHO Dr Riaz, Dr. Sohail Asghar Qazi and representatives of concerned departments were also present.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2020.