Pindi rolls out campaigns to combat diseases

Projects aim to improve healthcare facilities, raise awareness

RAWALPINDI:

The District Health Authority (DHA) is gearing up for a big push against dengue, polio, and pneumonia campaigns in 2025, setting a target to complete the renovation and revamp of 22 Basic Health Centres (BHCs) and seven Rural Health Centres (RHCs) across the district by the end of this month.

To support this effort, the authority has planned to recruit daily wage workers for the anti-dengue campaign after 2,000 workers were dismissed from service after their terms expired last year. The authority has sought permission from the Punjab government to bring in fresh workers.

DHA has initiated planning for various healthcare activities across the district in 2025, starting from the first month. The plans include training for the anti-dengue campaign, micro-planning, and a focus on areas that were identified as dengue hotspots in the previous year.

The authority will also provide full support to all allied departments participating in the anti-dengue campaign and aims to complete the recruitment of new daily wage employees before launching the regular anti-dengue campaign in March.

Additionally, preparations are underway to commence the first seven-day anti-polio campaign of the year on February 3. In response to the increased risk of pneumonia due to the cold weather, pneumonia counters have been established in government hospitals to address the rising threat posed by the drop in temperature.

The ongoing project to revamp the healthcare system across the district, initially scheduled for completion on December 31, 2024, will now be finalised and made operational once the renovation of 22 BHCs and seven RHCs is completed this month, in January 2025.

Dr Asif Arbab Niazi, the DHA's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), has announced that this year's focus will be on the anti-dengue campaign. The authority will strongly emphasise preventing the spread of dengue fever by destroying dengue larvae before they mature into adult mosquitoes. The authority recognises that this is crucial in protecting citizens from the disease, he adds.

"The first step in this campaign is to launch a dengue awareness programme, which relies heavily on citizen participation and responsibility. When the awareness campaign against dengue is practically successful, the risk of dengue will be minimised."