PHC orders provision of dengue testing kits to major hospitals

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday directed the provincial government to provide dengue virus testing equipment to major hospitals in the province.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Qalandar Ali Khan and Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Khan directed the directors and other officials of the government-run hospitals to take immediate steps for curbing dengue.

The directions were issued during the hearing of a writ petition.  The court directed the government not to confine itself to the provincial capital only and take steps to prevent the spread of the mosquito-borne disease to the other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The bench also summoned hospital directors of Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) and Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) on August 28 with the direction to submit a report about diagnostic and treatment facilities at these hospitals.

The court also asked the deputy commissioner of Peshawar to continue making efforts for eradication of dengue. However, the court directed the deputy commissioner to submit reports about dengue virus in the high court on daily basis.

The court directed the government to give the people and media access to information about dengue cases. During the course of hearing, the additional director of the Health Department Punjab briefed the court about the present situation.

He informed the court that they had handed over the equipment to the provincial government for the treatment of dengue patients and they were now jointly providing the treatment. Saifullah Mohib Kakakhel, a lawyer who had filed the writ petition, informed the bench that the dengue infected people still complained about the lack of facilities at government hospitals.

He said that there were eight beds in the LRH for the dengue patients and about 10 in the KTH. He said the provincial government still lacked facilities to curb dengue. The petitioner added the government didn’t take steps to curb the disease and even now fumigation was being carried out in selected areas.

Deputy Commissioner of Peshawar Saqib Raza informed the bench that the government was making efforts to curb dengue. He said that fumigation was being carried out and action taken against the tyre selling shops in Tehkal as they were not following precautionary measures.

Senator Ghulam Ali and former MPA Atifur Rehman also appeared before the court and informed the bench that the provincial government didn’t take the issue seriously and that was the reason that several people died.

They said that in the beginning the provincial government didn’t allow health experts from Punjab to treat patients at hospitals and arrangements were made at hujras for the treatment of patients. The court adjourned the case till August 28.