Rates of mosquito repellents, sprays bite back victims

Price control mechanisms have gone missing as traders look to exploit the rise of dengue

KARACHI / LAHORE / PESHAWAR:

Along with the mammoth increase in prices of medication for dengue, the rates of mosquito killing sprays, coils, and mosquito repellent lotions have seen a drastic upsurge as well making it a double whammy for the populace of the virus hotbeds.

Residents of Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar are perturbed by the fact that first they were priced out of dengue treatment in the form of exorbitant drug prices and now have been priced out of combating mosquitoes as well. Umer Hussain, resident of the booming metropolis Karachi, whilst criticising traders, said that they saw every disease or tragedy as a money making opportunity.

“There is a shortage of the lotion my children use for protection against mosquito bites and shopkeepers are exploiting the situation by charging steep prices.” The situation remains the same towards Karachi’s northeast in Lahore. Mohammad Waseem, a resident of Punjab’s capital, said that the pharmacies intentionally increased prices of dengue treatment drugs and now other retailers are following suit by charging high rates for mosquito repellents.

Waseem was of the view that the government had shunned all its responsibilities as far as dengue was concerned including that of controlling prices. “A small can of mosquito spray now costs Rs 400 whereas mosquito nets are priced at Rs 2,000. How can any poor man afford to protect himself against dengue?” asked Nizar Khan, a resident of the Gulbahar area in Peshawar.

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Khan, reiterating Waseem’s criticism of the government, said that on the one hand the provincial government was asking citizens to protect themselves from dengue but on the other had failed to implement any price control mechanisms. “There is no check and balance. Shopkeepers are charging whatever they wish and the district administration and government are sleeping,” an irate Khan remarked.

For flood affectees the predicament is even worse. “We are sleeping under the open sky. We do not have access to any healthcare and mosquito nets are a luxury item. So we are like sitting ducks for dengue mosquitoes,” lamented Rasheed Khan, a resident of Nowshera who is currently living in a tent on the outskirts of Peshawar.

While residents of three of the country’s most populated cities are dissatisfied with the provincial governments’ dealing of dengue, Saima Bibi, a resident of the Allama Iqbal town area in Lahore, which is a dengue hotbed currently, was livid at how residents have been left to fend for themselves. “All the people in the government are good for raising slogans only.

The health cards they have provided do not work, they have not bothered to conduct the spraying campaigns in a timely fashion, nor are they keeping a check on the exorbitant prices. So what have they done for us?” a fiery Saima Bibi questioned while talking to The Express Tribune.