Dengue: Foreign experts warn of more fatalities
Punjab govt concealing numbers to avoid criticism, admits minister.
ISLAMABAD:
Amid calls from local quarters to concentrate on wiping out the dengue epidemic from the province, the Punjab government has been told by foreign experts that the issue could continue for another few years and only increase in its deadliness.
“Next year, it will be more dangerous and fatal as those who were infected by dengue this year and survived, will not be able to pull through if infected again,” a provincial minister told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity. The experts, he said, explained that if infected again, people could suffer from brain fever or hemorrhagic fever.
However, the minister said, Pakistan was not the only country where the disease had wrecked havoc. “Many countries, including India, US, China, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Indonesia, Mexico, Panama, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Venezuela, Vietnam and many other African countries are facing the epidemic’’.
The Punjab government is being assisted by dengue experts from Sri Lanka and Indonesia, who recently visited different hospitals in Lahore, while the World Health Organisation has also provided technical guidance to dengue monitoring and coordination committees.
But, the minister said, for political reasons both federal and provincial governments are hesitant to take people into confidence over the possible spread of the epidemic.
“The government of Punjab has been concealing the actual number of infected people due to criticism from political opponents for its failure to immediately respond to the deadly disease,” he admitted.
It appears that the epidemic has scoured Punjab only but according to unofficial estimates, more than 5,000 cases have appeared across Pakistan with Punjab being the hardest, but not the only, hit province. In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, for instance, more than 200 people have been diagnosed with dengue.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 25th, 2011.
Amid calls from local quarters to concentrate on wiping out the dengue epidemic from the province, the Punjab government has been told by foreign experts that the issue could continue for another few years and only increase in its deadliness.
“Next year, it will be more dangerous and fatal as those who were infected by dengue this year and survived, will not be able to pull through if infected again,” a provincial minister told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity. The experts, he said, explained that if infected again, people could suffer from brain fever or hemorrhagic fever.
However, the minister said, Pakistan was not the only country where the disease had wrecked havoc. “Many countries, including India, US, China, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Indonesia, Mexico, Panama, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Venezuela, Vietnam and many other African countries are facing the epidemic’’.
The Punjab government is being assisted by dengue experts from Sri Lanka and Indonesia, who recently visited different hospitals in Lahore, while the World Health Organisation has also provided technical guidance to dengue monitoring and coordination committees.
But, the minister said, for political reasons both federal and provincial governments are hesitant to take people into confidence over the possible spread of the epidemic.
“The government of Punjab has been concealing the actual number of infected people due to criticism from political opponents for its failure to immediately respond to the deadly disease,” he admitted.
It appears that the epidemic has scoured Punjab only but according to unofficial estimates, more than 5,000 cases have appeared across Pakistan with Punjab being the hardest, but not the only, hit province. In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, for instance, more than 200 people have been diagnosed with dengue.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 25th, 2011.