Dengue — an epidemic?

The outbreak of dengue fever in the country is now approaching an epidemic. With 5,200 positive cases of dengue, the government has been shamefully slow in responding to the problem. Rather than hurriedly taking curative and preventive measures, it is playing down the threat and making excuses. Ministry of Health Director General Dr Rashid Jooma, rather than explaining what measures he was taking to deal with dengue, rationalised that Pakistan is in a better position than Sri Lanka, which has 20,000 cases of dengue every year.

The outbreak of dengue could have been easily prevented. Regular fumigation, earmarking funds to tackle the problem and public awareness could have at least led to a significant drop in the number of dengue cases.

For next summer, it is vital that health authorities take preventive rather than reactive measures. Right now, though, the government needs to get its act together. Funds need to be made available on an emergency basis and there needs to be coordination between government hospitals across the provinces as well as between public and private hospitals.

Here is a truly frightening thought: if the government has shown itself to be completely incapable of tackling dengue, how unprepared is it for other, more serious diseases? In the last decade, new diseases like mad cow and Sars have frightened the world into action. Malaria is still an epidemic that poor countries are unable to tackle. Aids continues to ravage the world. Does Pakistan have a plan in place to deal with these epidemics? Given its inability to foresee and take measures to prevent the dengue outbreak, it has become clear that public health is not a priority for the government. Today dengue fever is our chief health concern. Tomorrow, it could be a far deadlier disease.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31^st, 2010.