Every citizen’s support needed in dengue campaign: EDO
An anti-dengue fever campaign in Lahore is in full swing.
LAHORE:
An anti-dengue fever campaign in the city is in full swing, Dr Arshad, the executive district officer (health), told The Express Tribune on Friday.
He said that the staff of the district health office were spraying insecticides and carrying out a fumigation operation. He said they had been instructed to make sure that no street or neighbourhood was left out.
He said he realised that the campaign will bear no fruit unless the officials tasked to undertake it were honest and hard-working. “I am personally monitoring the campaign to make sure that they do not neglect their duties,” the EDO (health) said.
He said in some critical places, the staff was working with such dedication they had not gone home for several days. “They have been sleeping at the nearest hospital,” he said.
Allah Rakha, a spray inspector in Shalimar Town, said that the EDO (health) had issued strict instructions against work shirkers.
The officials, he said, were aware of the sensitivity of the issue and were putting in maximum effort to make the campaign effective.
He said that most people were unaware that the government was providing free-of-charge spraying facilities to prevent the outbreak of the disease. He said that most local hospitals also have spray facilities that the residents of the area can request.
Dr Tariq Ramazan, a physician at a hospital in Model Town, said spraying and fumigation were necessary but people should also be made aware about mosquitoes’ habits.
“They should not go out in parks at and around sunrise and sunset.
He said every dengue patient had a unique account of how he could have acquired the disease.
Of the 30 cases of dengue reported at public hospitals, as many as 18 have been reported in Dharampura and 12 in Shalimar Town, according to the local union council coordinators who are carrying out the spraying and fogging operations.
In a press statement issued on Thursday, the EDO (health) urged university students to cooperate in the anti-dengue campaign. “They can help make people aware of the measures that can help prevent the spread of dengue,” Dr Arshad said.
The EDO (Health) said that citizens mostly ask the coordinators to spray specific areas. He said that unless every nook and corner of a neighbourhood was sprayed chances were that mosquitoes will hide around for a while, defeating the purpose of the campaign.
Hussain Ahmed, a spray inspector in Gulberg, said that they generally sprayed Pemra-3 insecticide through large canisters in the entire area. However, he said, if a dengue case is reported we fumigate the surrounding area. The smoke makes sure that all traces of mosquitoes are eradicated so that further breeding is curbed.
He said no dengue case has yet been reported in the Gulberg area.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 16th, 2010.
An anti-dengue fever campaign in the city is in full swing, Dr Arshad, the executive district officer (health), told The Express Tribune on Friday.
He said that the staff of the district health office were spraying insecticides and carrying out a fumigation operation. He said they had been instructed to make sure that no street or neighbourhood was left out.
He said he realised that the campaign will bear no fruit unless the officials tasked to undertake it were honest and hard-working. “I am personally monitoring the campaign to make sure that they do not neglect their duties,” the EDO (health) said.
He said in some critical places, the staff was working with such dedication they had not gone home for several days. “They have been sleeping at the nearest hospital,” he said.
Allah Rakha, a spray inspector in Shalimar Town, said that the EDO (health) had issued strict instructions against work shirkers.
The officials, he said, were aware of the sensitivity of the issue and were putting in maximum effort to make the campaign effective.
He said that most people were unaware that the government was providing free-of-charge spraying facilities to prevent the outbreak of the disease. He said that most local hospitals also have spray facilities that the residents of the area can request.
Dr Tariq Ramazan, a physician at a hospital in Model Town, said spraying and fumigation were necessary but people should also be made aware about mosquitoes’ habits.
“They should not go out in parks at and around sunrise and sunset.
He said every dengue patient had a unique account of how he could have acquired the disease.
Of the 30 cases of dengue reported at public hospitals, as many as 18 have been reported in Dharampura and 12 in Shalimar Town, according to the local union council coordinators who are carrying out the spraying and fogging operations.
In a press statement issued on Thursday, the EDO (health) urged university students to cooperate in the anti-dengue campaign. “They can help make people aware of the measures that can help prevent the spread of dengue,” Dr Arshad said.
The EDO (Health) said that citizens mostly ask the coordinators to spray specific areas. He said that unless every nook and corner of a neighbourhood was sprayed chances were that mosquitoes will hide around for a while, defeating the purpose of the campaign.
Hussain Ahmed, a spray inspector in Gulberg, said that they generally sprayed Pemra-3 insecticide through large canisters in the entire area. However, he said, if a dengue case is reported we fumigate the surrounding area. The smoke makes sure that all traces of mosquitoes are eradicated so that further breeding is curbed.
He said no dengue case has yet been reported in the Gulberg area.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 16th, 2010.