So far so good: ‘Dengue threat is not that bad this year’

KARACHI:

Dengue is not as bad this year as we had expected, said Sindh health minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed in his first media briefing since resuming office after his party had distanced itself from the government some months back.

On October 15 last year the number of dengue cases reported was over 1,500 while on the same date this year 668 cases were reported in Sindh. Compared to 25 deaths last year, 10 deaths have been reported of which nine were from Karachi and one from Ghotki.

Also addressing journalists with the minister at the new Sindh Secretariat was Secretary for Health Rizwan Ahmed. The provincial government has given the department an additional Rs181 million to control the spread of dengue as well as provide free treatment to dengue positive patients who cannot afford it.

On the unnecessary use of mega platelets, Dr Ahmed said that World Health Organisation standards recommend administering the platelets for counts under 10,000.

Also, many people do not get properly tested and are misdiagnosed for malaria and start getting treated for that. As of October 15, 19,000 cases of malaria were reported in the province.

The minister also spoke on the unrest at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre caused by power outages and a court case hoping to reverse the hospital’s devolution to the province.

The institution has been devolved by a decision made in parliament, he said adding, that if any person or body wants a change of the current arrangement they should approach parliament.

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