education officers were trained on theories and practice for health communication. The trainers highlighted the basic rules for internal communication, external communication and IEC resource centres.
Communication is place in the centre of disease prevention and control. Pakistan is facing very high burden of communicable disease which may be prevented through proper motivation of people. Healthy life style may cut down sufferings of people from non-communicable diseases like diabetes, heart attack, hypertension, cancer etc. Positions of health education officers are created in all DHQ hospitals and district health offices. Recently, 13 new health education officers have joined the department through public service commission. The officers will be entrusted the responsibilities to conduct patient counselling sessions, arrange and manage awareness seminars and develop liaison with the media personal for disease awareness and motivate the public to adopt preventive behaviours.
Prof Dr Ghais-un-Nabi Tayyab of Lahore General Hospital delivered lecture on prevention and control of hepatitis to develop capacity of the newly-recruited officers for launch of an effective hepatitis awareness campaign in the province. He informed that hepatitis C is a disease of three decades: in the first 10 years disease sign symptoms do not appear, in the second 10 years sign symptom starts appearing and in the third 10 years time span patient faces serious complications if not treated. Hepatitis C does not spread with food or polluted water. Hepatitis B&C are blood born infections for which people need to opt for minimum use of injections, ensure safe injection practices, never share sharps and piercing tools, and ensure screened blood transfusion. The trainees were given the task to develop their action plan to launch comprehensive health education campaigns in their respective jurisdictions on the priority health subjects including dengue, hepatitis, MERS CoV, Congo fever, child health, breast feeding and international health days.
Flood losses: Punjab Chief Relief Commissioner and member Board of Revenue Nadeem Ashraf has said survey of losses of houses and crops due to flood and rains will be completed till August 31 and process of payment of compensation to the affectees will be completed in two phases. He expressed these views while addressing the meeting of Flood Cabinet Committee on Tuesday. PDMA DG Jawad Akram, Director Ali Annan Qamar, director finance, secretaries and representatives of different departments were present.
Nadeem Ashraf said compensation will be paid from September 1 in the first phase while on September 10 in the second phase. He said that Rs 80,000 will be given to the affectees whose cemented houses have been destroyed completely due to rain and flood while Rs 40,000 will be given to the owners whose cemented houses have been partially destroyed. Similarly, Rs 40,000 will be given for ordinary houses destroyed completely and Rs 20,000 compensation will be given for partially destroyed ordinary houses. He said Rs 10,000 per acre will be given to the owners of 12.5 acre land for damage of crops. He said payment centres will be launched in flood affected districts in this regard so that affectees could be facilitated under one roof and payment could be made through a nearby bank. He said every facility will be provided to the flood affected people at payment centres.