Public-private blood bank considered

Three more lose their life to the epidemic in the city.

LAHORE:

The CM has directed the chief secretary to consider the proposal of setting up a blood bank under a public-private partnership and has told him submit recommendations regarding the matter. 

The death toll due to the dengue virus continued to rise as three people lost their lives to the virus in Lahore on Monday. The official death toll in the city has reached 210 while it is 234 in Punjab.

Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif said that the committee to confirm dengue deaths was working and that compensation to the heirs of those who died from the virus would be made soon.

In Lahore, the number of confirmed dengue patients is over 17,000, while some 1,600 dengue patients are being treated in the city’s public hospitals. According to Health Department figures, 16,928 dengue patients have been discharged from hospitals after complete recovery.

A handout issued by the Directorate General Public Relations (DGPR) quoted the CM as saying that steps should be taken for immediately importing ventilators for facilitating patients. He said the visits of professors and consultants to the hospitals were a welcome step.

The CM was presiding over a meeting to review the dengue situation in the province. He said that the training of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff regarding the dengue virus is of great importance. He directed that the Institute of Public Health should ensure the implementation of training programmes.

Sharif said the training for doctors of private and charity hospitals had been made compulsory. He said that besides government hospitals, certificates should also be obtained from private and trust hospitals regarding the elimination of larvae.

Sharif directed that elected representatives should visit hospitals in their areas regularly to review the medical facilities being provided and submit a report regarding the matter.

He said that if elected representatives will visit hospitals regularly, the complaints of patients would be addressed immediately. He directed that government scrap houses be shifted from the city and ordered negotiations with the owners of private scrap houses for relocating them.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2011.