Dengue: 'Corrupt health officials playing with lives of innocent people'

LHC Chief Justice says action to be taken against officials involved in purchase of substandard mosquito repellant.

LAHORE: Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Ejaz Chaudhry has said corrupt officers of the Health Department are playing with the lives of innocent people and it will not be tolerated at any cost, Express 24/7 reported on Friday.

While hearing the case against uncontrolled spread of dengue in the province, the chief justice asked the District Coordination Officer (DCO) and the Provincial Secretary for Health why preemptive measures had not been taken by the government.

(Read: Disasters, dengue and local government)

Justice Chaudhry said action will be taken against the concerned officials if they are found involved in the purchase of substandard mosquito repellent.

The hearing has been adjourned till September 23.

Dengue continues to spread in Punjab

Dengue claimed three more lives as the virus continued to spread in Punjab, taking the total number of deaths to 27 in the province.

Over 520 cases of dengue have been reported in Punjab during the last 24 hours, of which 501 were from Lahore, while 295 patients are under treatment in various hospitals.

Over 4,700 patients are reported to have recovered from the virus so far.

Meanwhile, seven more cases of dengue were also reported in Karachi in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases reported in the province to 233, of which 206 have been from Karachi.

At least 40 cases have been confirmed in Karachi during the current month, while 24 are still being treated in hospitals.