Due to the recent spread of the Coronavirus, I am reminded of our perpetual struggles with Dengue fever, which hits Pakistan every year causing many unnecessary casualties during the summer season. Now that the winter season is coming to a close, it is time for the provincial as well as federal governments to start planning the preventive measures to be taken at the start of the summer. The federal minister for health and the provincial health ministers are requested to jointly formulate a policy to combat this problem in 2020 in order to save precious lives.
Hospitals must be equipped with the requisite medicines and equipment, special wards must be created to house the patients, additional paramedical staff and doctors should be hired and the services of specialists should be sought to meet the challenge. Simultaneously, public awareness campaigns, both in print and electronic media, should commence so that the public starts taking anti dengue measures seriously.
Lt Col (r) Arshad N Qureshi
Islamabad