Surveillance in Ravi Town directed

Dengue eradication

LAHORE

Punjab Labour and Human Resource Department Secretary Sohail Shehzad has directed the officials concerned to perform deep sweep surveillance of dengue larvae in Ravi Town and the Walled City area.

He also directed monitoring of performance of field teams on daily basis. He said that there was no room for negligence in surveillance because the ongoing weather was favourable for dengue mosquito spread. He said that awareness campaign was key to curbing the dengue menace. 

The secretary passed these orders while chairing a meeting regarding dengue surveillance of Ravi Town.

The meeting was informed that 287 positive larvae had been found in the last seven days while one dengue positive patient was reported in the year in Ravi Town but there was no death due to dengue in Ravi Town.

The meeting was briefed that there were total 3,253 hot spots regarding dengue in Ravi Town. There are 299 godowns, 335 factories, 111 under construction sites, 378 tyre shops, 46 parks, 262 junkyards, 83 service stations and 67 graveyards in Ravi Town.

adviser: Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khawaja Salman Rafiq has said the secretaries of the departments concerned should ensure their participation in the meetings of Cabinet Committee on Dengue. He stated this while chairing a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Dengue at S&GAD Committee Room here on Tuesday, according to a handout issued here.The elected representatives, Primary and Secondary Health Secretary Ali Jan Khan, Irrigation Secretary Saif Anjum, Health Director General Dr Mukhtar Hussain Syed, additional secretaries and senior officers of other  departments concerned, Lahore DCO Muhammad Usman and the officers of Punjab Information Technology and Meteorological Department attended the meeting.

The DCOs and EDOs of health of Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura, Kasur, Nankana Sahib, Multan, Attock and Jhelum informed the meeting about dengue situation in their respective districts through video link.

Dengue Control Additional Director General Dr Fayyaz Butt informed that during the current year, 524 confirmed dengue patients had so far been reported in Rawalpindi while 1,052 patients had been reported in Islamabad. 

The Rawalpindi DCO informed that public sector hospitals of Rawalpindi had also been extending medical treatment facilities to the dengue patients from Islamabad, and out of 208 patients admitted in the government hospitals of Rawalpindi, 131 were from Islamabad.

Kh Salman Rafiq directed that consolidated efforts with the collaboration of the authorities of Islamabad should be continued for effective control of dengue.  It was stated that during 2015, a total 2,218 dengue patients were reported in Rawalpindi whereas during the current year so far 788 patients had been reported, fewer than half of the previous years. Moreover, during the current year, 341 dengue patients have so far been reported in Lahore but there is no cluster of dengue patients in any union council of Lahore.

The Lahore DCO Muhammad Usman informed the meeting that  dengue situation in DHA and the cantonment areas was gradually improving and overall the dengue larvae reports had lowered.