Punjab dengue wards lack sanitation

Thousands admitted amid mounting death toll

LAHORE:

As a result of weak surveillance and casual attitude of the masses, so far nine patients, including eight in the metropolis, have lost the battle against the dengue virus in the Lahore division during the ongoing season.

Official statistics released by the provincial administration on Monday revealed that 5,881 patients, including 5,539 in Lahore city, have been admitted to hospitals across the division owing to dengue virus infection during the past seven days.

The local administration lodged 331 FIRs in different police stations and arrested 290 citizens over various violations of anti-dengue SOPs but they failed to contain the spread of the viral disease owing to poor cleanliness even in government hospitals.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, an attendant of a dengue patient, Amna Khan, highlighted that her husband had caught the dengue virus last week and she had to shift him to Jinnah Hospital for treatment.

“We remained in the Medical Unit – II of the Jinnah Hospital for almost six days. We passed these six days battling with cockroaches, bed bugs, and other insects roaming freely in the ward. During the first two days, the ward was so overcrowded that all patients had to share beds. All bedsheets were full of blood stains. During these six days, we thought several times that we may catch another disease from this ward, the so-called ‘dengue bay’, but had no other option owing to financial constraints,” she said.

As the government is publicising everywhere about its flagship health insurance scheme, Khan disclosed, she tried to contact every hospital in the close vicinity to get her husband shifted to some better medical facility but she came to know that except for Fatima Memorial, no private hospital is providing medical treatment to dengue patients on Sehat Card, the health insurance facility of the provincial government.

“I reached out numerous times to the hospital for admission of my husband but they were fully packed owing to rush of the dengue patients. Other private hospitals claimed that they only do surgeries on Sehat Card and do not entertain dengue patients. Dengue patients should contact public sector hospitals only,” she lamented.

Another patient, Muhammad Ilyas, who was recently discharged from another hospital, shared a similar agony.

He said except for tall claims neither the Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) nor the Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government did anything to improve health facilities in the province.

“We have to come to Lahore from Okara to get medical treatment. The situation in the health and education sector cannot be improved in Pakistan unless the ruling elite and civil servants start using these facilities which they consider useful for common citizens,” he underscored.

Meanwhile, Lahore Division Commissioner Muhammad Aamir Jan directed officials concerned to initiate an awareness-raising campaign in collaboration with citizens as there are reports of finding more dengue larvae in the water tanks of houses.

Presiding over a meeting of officials concerned, he instructed all deputy commissioners to start a special cleaning campaign for the removal of debris from roadsides, as damp debris and standing water in green belts could be breeding grounds for dengue larvae.

According to recent surveys, he highlighted, dengue larvae are also found in water tanks and room coolers.

He said hospitals must keep record of patients’ identity cards and contact numbers and underscored the need for coordinated efforts to eradicate the dengue virus.

Special attention should be paid to hotspots and citizens should also be appealed to take precautionary measures against dengue, the official added.