Controlling dengue: Health Dept to report on ‘expired meds’

Petitioner says govt bought expired pesticides, medicines to eliminate dengue.

LAHORE:

Hearing a petition against the government’s alleged failure to control deaths from dengue fever, the Lahore High Court on Tuesday asked the government to file a report on the alleged supply of expired medicines to dengue fever patients.

A representative for the Health Department on Tuesday submitted a report about the medicines used to control the illness over the past years. He said imported medicines that had been approved by the World Health Organisation were given to patients. No spurious or unapproved medicines were supplied, he said. The steps taken by the Health Department had greatly helped reduce the number of deaths. He said they were struggling hard to eliminate the disease entirely and would soon be successful.

The court directed counsel for the department to submit a report in response to the petitioner’s allegations that expired medicines had been supplied to patients over the past few years.

The court adjourned further hearing till January 13.

The petitioner had submitted that the government had made false claims regarding its success in controlling dengue fever. He said the government had in fact failed to control the epidemic and several people had died because of dengue fever this year.



The government had not taken precautionary steps, he said, and many of people could lose their lives to the disease because of that.

Poor management by the government last year had led to several deaths, he said. On February 22 this year, the government announced that dengue mosquitoes were breeding again and asked people to be careful...the government however remained idle, the petitioner alleged.

He said deaths due to dengue fever were increasing by the day. Substandard pesticides had been sprayed in some areas, he said. Millions of rupees had been embezzled during January 2012 to September 2013 for purchasing anti-dengue medicines. The petitioner said department officials and some government high ups were also involved in purchasing substandard and expired anti-dengue medicines. He requested the court to issue directions to the government to hold a transparent inquiry against officials involved in that embezzlement.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2013.