Anti-dengue plan finalised
Several dengue patients are isolated in mosquito nets at the Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rawalpindi. PHOTO: ONLINE
The Rawalpindi District Health Authority (DHA) has completed micro-planning for the upcoming anti-dengue campaign to contain the spread of the mosquito-borne ailment in the district.
According to official sources, anti-dengue surveillance will be carried out in high-risk areas of Potohar Town and Chaklala Cantt soon.
They said the training of around 2,000 daily wagers and 1,360 regular dengue workers has been completed ahead of the drive.
The dengue micro-planning has been completed based on last year's dengue statistics, they said.
Under the micro-plan, the areas of Potohar Town including Girja Union Council, Chak Jalal Din, Dhaman Syedan, Dhamyal, Kalyal, Renal and the areas of Chaklala Cantonment adjacent to Potohar Town have been marked as the most sensitive areas regarding dengue.
It has also been decided that if a single case is reported from a locality, the entire area would be marked as sensitive and special attention would be given to that area.
DHA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Ishaq said preparations for the anti-dengue campaign are in full swing.
He said under the dengue awareness campaign, the detection of dengue larvae and fumigation are part of the drive to prevent dengue cases.
In this regard, an anti-dengue campaign has been planned at the union council level in seven tehsils of Rawalpindi district, while committees at the tehsil and district levels will also work to monitor the anti-dengue campaign, he said.
“Action will be taken immediately on complaints of the presence of dengue larva and laxity on the officials’ part would not be tolerated.”
According to the health department, in January and February this year, the teams of the department checked 1.2 million houses and over half a million outdoor spots, out of which larvae have been recovered from 712 houses and 141 outdoor spots.
It also said around 42 full-grown mosquitoes were also recovered from these spots.
Experts have warned that the number of dengue mosquitos is likely to increase due to the increase in temperature in the coming days.
To control the spread of dengue, the health department has started eliminating detected larvae through chemical and mechanical techniques.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 6th, 2023.