Field hospitals for dengue patients to open today

Shahbaz says all govt schools sprayed, private schools that don’t spray wont’ open.

LAHORE:

The government is setting up field hospitals that will become operational from today to ease the patient load at hospitals amidst the dengue outbreak, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Sunday.

At a meeting reviewing the government’s campaign to stop the spread of the dengue virus, the chief minister praised public representatives, departments, doctors and paramedics for their efforts. He said he was hopeful that their collective efforts, along with the increasing awareness among the public, would ease the dengue crisis.

(Read: Plague of fear)

He said that apart from extra testing equipment and added staff to treat patients at existing hospitals, temporary field hospitals were being set up to increase capacity and these would be functional within 24 hours. He said recently imported machines must immediately be sent to the hospitals. He directed the chief secretary to upgrade dispensaries under the Punjab Rural Support Programme.

Sharif said that a “vigorous campaign” had been launched to raise public awareness of preventive measures. He said seminars on the dengue virus should be held at schools and colleges now that they have reopened.

He praised the education secretary for ensuring that all public schools in Punjab had been sprayed with insecticide during the recent 10-day forced closure. But not all private schools had conducted sprays and they must not be allowed to reopen till they do, he said. They must spray their buildings with insecticide within 24 hours, he said. The towns that perform the best in ensuring that all private schools in their areas are sprayed would be rewarded, he added.

The chief minister also told officials to make sure that offices, multi-storey buildings and private housing societies conduct spray campaigns. He directed the environment secretary to inspect tyre shops and prepare a report in two days on their potential for becoming mosquito breeding sites.

He said that the helpline set up to provide information on dengue had helped more than 57,000 people. He directed the district coordination officer to submit a report on Monday on the shifting of all cattle from the city.

The meeting at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat was attended by MNAs and MPAs, secretaries, city government officials, experts and members of a Sri Lankan medical team in Lahore to advise the government on anti-dengue measures. The secretaries, Lahore commissioner, DCO and town officials earlier briefed the chief minister on their progress in taking preventive measures and eliminating mosquito breeding sites.

Death toll

Meanwhile, the death toll from the virus rose to 100 in Punjab on Sunday, including 91 in Lahore.

The Health Department reported that eight people had died of dengue in the last 24 hours. The total number of infections in Punjab stands above 10,000.

Also on Sunday, MNA Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, the chairman of Gulberg Town’s Emergency Response Committee, said that encroachments and garbage were the major challenges to the campaign to improve hygiene and eliminate mosquito breeding sites.

He instructed officials to clear all sites of garbage and remove all encroachments in Gulberg.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 26^th,  2011.