Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has ordered formation of a coordination committee to draft the “dengue action plan” in order to get rid of the prevailing disease usually caused by mosquito bites.
The committee will be chaired by the chief secretary in order to deal with the situation in a systematic and coordinated manner.
This decision was made during a meeting chaired by the provincial chief executive on Wednesday that reviewed the latest situation of dengue in the province and measures being taken for its prevention.
The chief minister stressed the need for a rigorous campaign to contain the disease and decided to constitute a coordination committee headed by the top provincial bureaucrat.
The committee will define roles and responsibilities for departments concerned and entities, ensure close coordination amongst them, monitor the implementation of dengue action plan and submit a weekly report to the CM pertaining to the situation of dengue virus.
Participants of the meeting were briefed on the number of dengue patients in the province, the arrangements made for treatment of patients and measures for prevention of the disease.
Special Assistant to the CM Kamran Bangash, administrative secretaries, Peshawar commissioner and high-ups of the health department attended the meeting.
The meeting was informed that the dengue situation is under control in the province. So far 1,173 positive cases of dengue had been reported in total, out of which 1,068 patients have recovered. However, currently 105 dengue patients were under treatment across the province and no deaths had been reported.
The meeting was further apprised that the highest number of dengue cases had been reported in Peshawar district with 253 cases out of which 213 patients recovered.
10 dengue hotspots had been identified in Peshawar district and a comprehensive action plan had been approved and shared with districts for the prevention of the disease.
All the necessary medicines and supplies for the prevention of dengue had been provided to the districts.
The meeting was told that under the Locum System, entomologists had been recruited and posted in 20 districts on emergency basis while recruitment of 37 regular entomologists was also underway. The newly recruited would be posted in districts soon.
Dengue units with at least 10 beds had been set up in all district and tehsil headquarter hospitals and dengue focal persons had also been nominated at district level.
Free medical camps are also being set up in Peshawar and other high-risk districts to facilitate suspected patients.
Mosquito repellent sprays and fumigation campaigns are also being carried out to eradicate dengue mosquitoes.
The meeting decided to formulate a strategy to raise public awareness about dengue prevention on a large scale and to run the campaigns on a daily basis.
CM Mahmood directed administrations of all the districts to implement the dengue action plan.
He also ordered the authorities concerned to ensure effective monitoring of the implementation of action plan. The provincial government will provide all resources to ensure the implementation of the plan. The chair also directed commissioners and deputy commissioners to hold regular meetings regarding dengue prevention and to ensure the participation of members of the provincial assembly in these meetings. Stressing on the need for better coordination among all the departments concerned and entities for effective control of dengue, the CM also directed to put in place an effective mechanism for coordination in this regard.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th, 2021.
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