Campaign to reduce incidence of dengue launched

LAHORE

The Local Government and Community Development Department (LG&CDD), Health Department Punjab, in collaboration with the two foreign companies has launched a campaign to reduce the incidence of dengue across the province. 

According to a press release issued on Wednesday, this announcement was made by Khawaja Salman Rafiq, Provincial Adviser to Chief Minister Punjab on Health, Dr Waseem Akram, Adviser to Chief Minister Punjab on Dengue and Shahzeb Mehmood, CEO of the foreign company along with a local company's representative Adnan Laeeq at a press briefing at a local hotel. 

The campaign ‘Dengue Se Pak Pakistan’ will focus on combating dengue by educating the people about undertaking proactive measures.  

The past five years are a witness to copious dengue incidents with over 60,000 cases being reported nationwide, most being from the province of Punjab.

In 2015 alone, 1,397 cases were reported in KPK while Sindh and Punjab accounted for 3,692 and 4,281 of dengue victims. Most of the cases originated from semi- urban areas and major metropolitan cities while unplanned settlements and rural areas equally fell prey to the disease.

Talking about this campaign, Shahzeb Mehmood said the foreign mosquito killer company has been working closely to educate the people regarding the protection from mosquito-borne diseases, especially dengue, since the past few years.

We appreciate the support that Government of Punjab has extended towards this campaign. This initiative aims to reach out to the larger population of Punjab by empowering and enabling the families to take proactive measures to avoid the incidence of dengue.” Khawaja Salman Rafiq said “The Government of Punjab is working at the grassroots to ensure reduction in the incidence of dengue cases in the province.

For this purpose, he said we will be facilitating company's on-ground efforts by creating awareness to bear the fruitful results. The most important aspect is to equip the people adequately to avoid the mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue.

According to him, local government’s community development department, Health Department Punjab, has a focused approach to minimise the spread of dengue therefore they will be working closely with the mosquito killer companies to implement this campaign at a household level.

This forms part of RB’s holistic CSR initiatives aimed at creating the health awareness and furthers the very philosophy of ‘healthier lives and happier homes, he added. 

Under the ‘Dengue Se Pak Pakistan’ campaign, the said companies will target the high risk districts and UCs all over Punjab through a number of pre-planned activities characterised by a combination of innovative approaches to generate the maximum impact and learning. To this end, a ‘Dengue Se Pak Pakistan’ anthem sung by prominent Vocalist Rahat Fateh Ali Khan was also launched on the occasion.  The anthem will form an integral part of the campaign’s awareness strategy.