Galloping dengue

The disease will always make a return unless preventative measures are conducted year on year.

The annual outbreak of dengue fever in Pakistan appears to have several new — and worrying — characteristics. Diseases like dengue are opportunistic. If they are pushed out of one area by human intervention, they look for another. Thus, it is that new areas are reporting significant outbreaks of the disease, areas where it had not previously been common. The Swat Valley has been ravaged this year with 33 new cases reported as of October 28. Government teams and international NGOs are conducting house-to-house awareness programmes in the worst-affected villages. There have been 129 cases reported from Battagram and Kohistan in the last six weeks. In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, overall, there have been 8,840 cases confirmed by October 29, with the actual figure likely to be higher.

The picture in Rawalpindi is poor as well, with government teaching hospitals reportedly receiving 20-25 fresh cases daily. There have been around 250 reported cases in the city this year and two deaths, but the figures are disputed hotly. The Holy Family hospital says that there have been a total of 777 cases reported since September, 330 of which tested positive, an indication that when it comes to dengue prevention, the guard cannot be dropped. Karachi is now on notice as its fumigation vehicles are idle due to budgetary restrictions — and there have been almost 3,000 cases since January. Local authorities have to understand one simple fact — unless preventative measures are conducted year on year, then the disease will always make a return. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif referred to this when he rightly berated officials on November 4 for negligence on their part. Dengue is endemic to Pakistan and nowhere close to eradication, but its effects can be mitigated by effective and persistent awareness programmes and concerted efforts regarding solid waste management and standing waters. The outbreak will now wane. But we must be better prepared in 2014.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2013.

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