Keeping indoor areas clean and sprayed with insecticide is more likely to keep the dengue vector away, said Dr Lee Chin in a talk on the second and final day of the International Dengue Conference at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat on Sunday.
Dr Lee Chin said once dengue entered a country, it was there to stay. Though the Punjab government had put good policies in place and there were fewer cases this year than the year before, that did not mean the disease was defeated. The dengue mosquito is highly adaptive to local conditions and scientists and doctors have to develop smarter strategies to curb the disease, she said.
Earlier, various working groups presented recommendations for controlling the spread of dengue and improving treatment of patients, as well as discussing their experiences with the disease in their countries.
They said that the war against dengue was long and would require the capacity-building of medical experts, entomologists and nurses, as well as raising awareness about the disease. They stressed that people would have to change their attitudes and lifestyles.
The Health Department will later publish the recommendations of the international experts for prevention of dengue in a book.
Ceremony
Addressing the concluding ceremony of the conference, Senator Pervaiz Rashid said that the efforts of the government and the blessings of the Almighty had kept dengue largely in check this season. He said officials, medical professionals, civil society and media had won the war against dengue under the leadership of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
“Now there is a great responsibility on our shoulders to make this success more sustainable,” said Rashid. “The struggle against dengue will need to be carried out with the same zeal and zest in future.”
He thanked experts from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore for their professional and technical support to local experts and handed out certificates of appreciation to them on behalf of the chief minister. They included Dr Fernando, Dr Tesira and Dr Kasum Wathal from Sri Lanka; Prof Suchitra, Prof Makda, Dr Ratchetat, Ms Rasana Valeer Tanpata from Thailand; Dr Lee Chin from Singapore; and Dr Rita from Indonesia.
The concluding session was also attended by Special Advisor to the Chief Minister on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique, Health Secretary Arif Nadeem, Special Secretary Babar Hayat Tarrar, Additional Health Secretary (Admin) Dr Sajid Mehmood Chohan, Additional Secretary (Technical) Dr Anwar Janjua, Health Director General Dr Nisar Cheema, Additional Director General for Vector Borne Diseases Dr Jaffar Ilyas, Pro-Vice Chancellor King Edward Medical University Professor Aslam Khan and Services Institute of Medical Sciences Principal Prof Faisal Masood.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 12th, 2012.
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