Fighting dengue

The year 2013 has been the worst on record for the numbers of verified cases of dengue fever in Sindh. About 32 out of 5,500 diagnosed lost their lives. These figures are an under-reporting according to the Dengue Surveillance Cell’s annual report, which estimates that the true figure was closer to 15,000, an unknown number of which died. The dengue season is now coming to an end with the advent of cooler weather in the province, but the prognosis for 2014 is already poor.



There are 18 large and around 200 small nullahs in Karachi alone, and all of them are potential breeding grounds for the mosquitos that carry the dengue virus. There will be rains in January and February, the temperatures will rise and by April, there is every chance of the disease reaching epidemic proportions.

‘Concrete plans’ are said to have been made in preparation, but ‘concrete plans’ have a habit of turning to dust when it comes to implementation. It now transpires that the chemical used to spray potential breeding sites was defective. Why this was not detected before the spray was used is a mystery, and those who might have some responsibility for quality control are busy pointing fingers at one another. The attitude of the general public in respect of waste disposal is no help either. People throw their rubbish willy-nilly. Vendors of fruit and vegetables should cover their wares with fine netting, and the authorities need to be considerably more diligent about clearing the nullahs of rubbish and human waste.

The help of the media is to be sought to raise public awareness. It may not be possible to completely eradicate dengue fever but it is possible to minimise the numbers that catch it simply by instilling habits of cleanliness in the population at large, coupled with an effective spraying programme and a year-round effort to keep the nullahs clean. All of this is well-enough known and has been for many years and yet year on year, increasing numbers of people contract the disease and die. Let us hope the predictions for 2014 prove unfounded.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28^th, 2013.

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