Action Plan: No confirmed dengue cases so far

Government departments coordinate on preventive measures.

LAHORE:

No dengue fever cases have been reported this season, but all departments will continue with awareness campaigns and the elimination of mosquito breeding sites so the disease does not resurface.

This was decided at a meeting of the Provincial Dengue Response Committee here on Tuesday to assess activities under the Dengue Action Plan 2013.

Briefing the Provincial Dengue Response Committee on Tuesday, Health Secretary Arif Nadeem said that 51 suspected dengue patients had been brought to public hospitals this season, but they were tested and found not to have dengue.

Nadeem said that dengue mosquito larvae had been detected at various places in Lahore and city government teams had sprayed them with insecticide or killed larvae mechanically. He said that public hospitals were fully prepared for the diagnosis and treatment of dengue patients.

King Edward Medical University Vice Chancellor Prof Faisal Masood briefed the committee about the training of doctors, nurses and paramedics in diagnosis and treatment at various colleges.



The local government secretary said officers from his department were conducting field visits and a cleanliness drive in their offices. Graveyards, warehouses and used-tyre storage areas were being checked for mosquito breeding sites.

The school education secretary said that a cleanliness week would be observed from April 1 in all schools of the province.

Chief Secretary Nasir Mehmood Khosa, who chaired the meeting, said that schoolchildren must wear full-sleeve shirts and trousers to protect from mosquito bites. He added that all schools should hold two classes a week to educate students about the disease.

The higher education secretary said that college students were participating in dengue monitoring. He said that 441 seminars had been conducted and dengue awareness stalls had been set up in colleges.

The labour secretary told the committee that social security hospitals were ready to treat dengue patients. He said that seminars had been organised at factories to raise awareness among workers. Pamphlets and CDs detailing precautionary measures against the disease had also been handed out to the workers. The agriculture secretary said that his department had checked 500 areas in Lahore for dengue mosquito larvae in the last week.

Information and Culture Secretary Abdullah Khan Sumbal said that the Information Department was carrying out a mass awareness campaign through print and electronic media. The Lahore Arts Council, Punjab Arts Council, Radio FM 95 and the Lahore Museum were also conducting special programmes to raise awareness of the disease.

DCO Noorul Amin Mengal told the committee that a letter had been written to federal government departments and institutions urging them to take steps against dengue.

Additional Chief Secretary Khizar Hayat Gondal, the Environment Protection Department secretary, Additional Director General for Vector Born Disease Dr Jaffar Ilyas and CM’s Dengue Research Cell head Dr Wasim Akram also attended the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2013.