Body formed to monitor monkeypox

On the directions of the Punjab government, a six-member committee will be responsible for ensuring comprehensive treatment arrangements for monkeypox patients.

According to official sources on Wednesday, the committee will consist of senior professors and consultants from Lahore General Hospital (LGH), while Professor of Medicine Dr Tahir Siddique would be the committee’s focal person of the committee.

Post-graduate Medical Institute and AMC Principal Dr Al-Fareed Zafar formed the committee, comprising Professor Aneela Asghar, Professor Faheem Afzal, Dr Irfan Malik, Dr Ghazala Rubby and Dr Syed Jaffer Hussain. He said the spread of monkeypox would be controlled early thanks to timely measures taken by the Department of Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Punjab. All measures would be ensured in an emergency situation, he added.

LGH administration formed a committee comprising senior professors, consultants and pathologists to finalise diagnosis of the disease and ensure case management and proper treatment arrangements for patients, as per the medical standard operating procedures (SOPs.

The PGMI principal appealed to the public to take precautionary measures while traveling abroad and wear face-masks, avoid shaking hands and to wash their hands with soap to prevent the disease from spreading.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 27^th, 2023.