Public health: No let-up in anti-dengue measures, says Sethi

No confirmed cases in Punjab so far this season.

LAHORE:

The campaign against the spread of dengue fever must be carried out on war footing and all measures must be taken to eradicate the mosquito which transmits the disease, said Caretaker Chief Minister Najam Sethi on Monday.

Speaking at a meeting on the public health menace at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, Sethi said that a public awareness drive must also be conducted so people know the importance of sanitation and preventive measures. All departments concerned must act in coordination to combat the disease, he added.

There has been no confirmed case of dengue fever in the province so far this season, the meeting was told, but the disease killed several hundred people in 2011. The anti-dengue campaign will continue until May 30.

Sethi said that graveyards, warehouses, under-construction buildings, ponds, tyre shops and junkyards must especially be monitored for mosquito-breeding sites. Tyre shops and junkyards which have taken the required preventive measures must be issued licences by April 15, he said. Staff engaged in anti-dengue measures must be paid on time, he added.

The additional chief secretary, the health, local government, higher education, schools education, agriculture, labour, environment, social welfare and cooperatives secretaries and the King Edward Medical University vice chancellor also attended the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 2^nd, 2013.