ICT Health Department prepares demand for 170 personnel

Islamabad

Islamabad Capital Territory Health Department has prepared a demand for induction of as many as 170 personnel for strengthening surveillance against dengue fever that would be sent to Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) within the coming week.

It is important that population in the federal capital faced the worst ever dengue fever outbreak last year with not less than 2,600 confirmed patients of the infection that claimed six lives in rural areas in Islamabad. Well over 80 per cent of all cases were reported from rural areas in Islamabad.

Keeping in mind the most severe dengue fever outbreak in the federal capital last year, we have planned to induct 170 personnel for strengthening surveillance against dengue fever in all 15 union councils in rural areas of Islamabad, said Additional District Health Officer at ICT Health Department Dr. Muhammad Najeeb Durrani while talking to ‘The News’ on Saturday.

He added that a summery in this regard has been prepared that would be sent to Secretary CADD in the coming week for approval. The ICT Health Department is planning to depute three to four well equipped teams in each union council for dengue fever surveillance, he said.

Giving details, he said the ICT Health Department has planned to induct epidemiologists, entomologists, sanitary inspectors, sanitary patrols, fog machine operators along with surveillance officers to avoid dengue fever outbreak in future.

According to plan, each team would be comprised of entomologist, sanitary inspector, sanitary patrol and fog machine operator while supervision of field activities of the teams would be responsibility of an epidemiologist who would be given four to five teams as a supervisor.

To a query, he said both male and female sanitary patrols would be inducted for outdoor and indoor surveillance against dengue fever. The newly inducted trained female staff would pay door-to-door visits for indoor surveillance, he said.

It is important that earlier the ICT Health Department has been taking the job of indoor surveillance from lady health workers in Islamabad Rural. Many health experts are of the view that ICT Health Department failed to check spread of dengue fever in 2016 because of limited resources available to it.

It is worth mentioning here that ICT Health Department did not induct staff for dengue fever surveillance while the district health department Rawalpindi has a total of 1,440 sanitary patrols who are working on contractual basis while in the peak season of breeding and growth of larvae of dengue fever vector ‘aedes aegypti’ and transmission of the infection, from June to September, the health department in Rawalpindi inducts around 250 workers on daily wages on 89-day contract.

Dr. Durrani said as many as five union councils in Islamabad Rural including Rawat, Koral, Sohan, Tarlai and Bharakahu were worst hit by dengue fever outbreak in 2016 while a good number of cases were reported from Tarnol. The ICT Health Department is planning to avoid dengue fever outbreak in Islamabad Rural this year, he said.