Dengue control forsaken in K-P
The failing state of the dengue prevention scheme in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) for yet another year shows that promises of curbing the mosquito borne viral disease in the province are mere lip service.
Despite the K-P government declaring five districts including Peshawar, Mardan, Swabi, Charsadda, and Battagram, as high-risk areas for the spread of the vector borne dengue virus, the display of inefficiency in fogging protocols alongside the severe shortage of mosquito nets, has multiplied the level of danger posed to locals.
“We keep calling the district administration for dengue fogging in our area, but they do not bother moving a muscle,” resented Minhaj Khan from Pawaka in Peshawar, who further added that the presence of a canal in his area acted as a breeding ground for dengue larvae.
Seconding Khan’s concerns, Shaukat Ali a local from the Tehkal area of Peshawar highlighted that apart from the absence of regular fumigation activities, no mosquito nets were available for the locals in his area.
“The provincial health department is arranging isolation wards for dengue patients in hospitals across the province but is turning a blind eye to the importance of preventative measures like fogging and mosquito nets,” opined Ali.
Read Epidemic feared as dengue cases rise
According to numbers obtained from the K-P Health Department, almost 224 cases of dengue have thus far been reported from the province, with 52 cases arising in Peshawar, 38 in Mardan, 37 in Swabi, 18 in Charsadda, 12 in Abbottabad, 10 in Haripur, 9 in Kohat, and 8 in Chitral.
“We have deployed several entomologists and 1,300 lady health workers for the inspection and fogging of 15,000 houses across K-P,” claimed Imran Yousafzai, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Peshawar, who also added that all tyre shops which had standing water bodies were sealed and their owners arrested under Section 144.
Adding on to Yousafzai’s information, Dr Ikramullah Khan, focal person for the provincial dengue prevention program denied that the department had been unresponsive towards requests for fumigation and nets.
“Whenever people contact us or the district administration, we make it a priority to arrange sprays and mosquito nets. We have conducted a special session for school students with the assistance of clerics to highlight the importance of taking precautionary measures against dengue. The entomological information system has also been generated and so far, a total of 0.7 million houses, 1.2 million outdoor sites and 25 million containers have been inspected for dengue larvae. All our efforts have yielded positive results since this year’s dengue cases are much less than the previous years,” stated Dr Khan while talking to The Express Tribune.