Dengue can only be defeated through a collective effort, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Friday at the Virus Prevention and Cure seminar.
He added, at the event organised by the Express Media Group in collaboration with Haier Pakistan, that from Monday a special programme to educate children in public schools would begin.
“The lectures are starting immediately so that the kids get awareness about the dengue virus and become agents of change and educate their families about it,” Sharif said. “If we fight dengue virus as a society we will defeat it but if we don’t do so and just do point scoring we will lose individually and collectively,” he stressed.
Sharif said that the dengue virus existed in more than 80 countries and every year 100,000 people contracted dengue in Thailand. “Mortality rate over there isn’t more than one percent. This disease is new for us but with the help of our Sri Lankan friends we have now set a direction and would effectively work to eradicate this from our society,” he said.
The CM, however, maintained that it would take time to control this virus, adding that it wouldn’t be wise to promise an overnight solution.
He said that all political parties should also come forward and play their role. He urged the media to highlight the hard work being done by doctors along with highlighting structural flaws. “I am thankful to the Express Media Group for coming forward and organising this seminar to create awareness among the masses regarding dengue. Civil society, doctors, nurses, paramedics, media, government and all segments of society will have to combine efforts and change our life pattern to end mosquitoes and end dengue from our surroundings,” he said.
Post Graduate Medical Institute Principal Dr Tariq Salahuddin said that dengue had become the worst epidemic in the history of Pakistan, particularly in Lahore and Punjab. “We must understand that this is an epidemic. An epidemic spreads like fire. We are using all means to control it. There is no need to panic, however. Combined efforts from all segments of society are vital to end this,” he said.
“The mortality rate of dengue isn’t more than one per cent and this is 100 per cent curable even if we look at our own figures in Pakistan.”
Allama Iqbal Medical College Principal Dr Javed Akram said dengue couldn’t be eradicated without changes in our behavioral attitudes. “We have to own this disease and clean its breeding places from our workplaces, houses and everywhere,” he added.
Dr Risintha, a Sri Lankan expert, said if people fix one day to clean their houses and workplaces and identify the breeding places of mosquitoes around them, dengue could be controlled.
He said people should take responsibility to fight dengue if they really want to eradicate it.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 24th, 2011.
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