Minister for effective dengue control measures

LAHORE :Punjab Minister for Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education, Kh Salman Rafique has said that due to the outbreak of dengue in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the administration of Rawalpindi should remain more vigilant and effective measures for dengue control also be continued in the district.

The minister appreciated the efforts of the Punjab medical team and entomologists rendering their services in Peshawar to provide technical cooperation and support to the local experts for controlling dengue outbreak and training for case management of the dengue patients.

He stated this while presiding over a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Dengue in the S&GAD Committee Room, Civil Secretariat, on Wednesday. Minister for Primary and Secondary Health Kh Imran Nazir, Health Secretary Ali Jan Khan, Dengue Expert Advisory Group convenor Prof Dr Faisal Masood, in charge Chief Minister Dengue Research Cell Prof Waseem Akram, secretaries of different departments concerned, representatives of PITB and Special Branch also attended the meeting. The deputy commissioners/chief executive officers, district health authorities of Gujranwala, Lahore, Sheikhupura, Jhelum, Attock, Multan, Kasur, Jhang, Faisalabad, Rahimyar Khan, Rawalpindi, Vehari, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Sahiwal, Chakwal and Sargodha participated in the meeting through a video link.

Additional Director General Dengue Control Dr Farrukh Sultan, who has recently come back from Peshawar after spending many weeks there in connection with the dengue control activities in KP, informed that due to the lack of awareness, almost every house in Peshawar was a dengue breeding hot spot. He said that public health experts from Punjab imparted training to the local experts in micro-planning for dengue surveillance.

Moreover, the doctors trained by the Dengue Expert Advisory Group also imparted training to the clinicians of KP for the treatment and case management of dengue patients for effective control of the disease.

The meeting was informed that so far in Punjab 98 confirmed dengue patients had been reported during the current year out of them 79 belonged to Punjab while the remaining came from other provinces. It was informed that due to the vigorous indoor and outdoor dengue surveillance, dengue larva was being reported in large quantity by the surveillance teams, which was very helpful to check the growth of dengue mosquitoes. It was reported that the water accumulated in room coolers had become big source of dengue larva breeding in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and other big cities.

Therefore, the residents should drain the water from the room coolers to ensure control of dengue breeding. The meeting was informed that dengue situation in Rawalpindi was so far fully under control and only five confirmed dengue cases had so far been reported in the current year as compared to 49 cases in the last year.

Kh Salman Rafique appreciated the efforts and steps taken by the various government departments and directed that the activities should be continued along with intensive awareness campaign. He directed that dengue sensitive districts particularly Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore and Sheikhupura should be given special attention.

Provincial Minister for Primary and Secondary Health Kh Imran Nazir said that he would approach Federal State Minister for Health Madam Sarah Afzal Tarar to hold a joint meeting so that concrete steps would be taken by the Provincial Health Department with the cooperation of federal government to control dengue in the federal capital, Islamabad. The meeting also reviewed the situation of Congo, Chickenpox and H1N1 influenza in the province.

Additional Secretary, Technical, Dr Asim Altaf briefed the meeting about the steps taken by the Health Department. He informed that effective measures were taken with the collaboration of Livestock Department to check the Congo virus. He said that the department had taken precautionary measures to control Hi, N1 influenza before the start of winter season as the winter provided conducive environment for the virus.

He informed that the pharmaceutical companies were in contact with the department to ensure availability of influenza vaccine in the market. On the occasion, Primary and Secondary Health Secretary Ali Jan Khan informed that health days would be observed in the mid of October, 2017, during which more than 100,000 health professionals would be vaccinated against different viral diseases, including H1N1 influenza.

PR revenue: Revenue generation for Pakistan Railways during Eid-ul-Azha holidays has increased up to Rs48 million from the last year’s earnings. According to a press release, Railways authorities Wednesday stated that more than two lakh passengers (31,000 more passengers as compared to last year) travelled in trains this year during Eid operations. Due to which, revenue was also increased up to Rs48.54 million during the special operation.

Special package up to 25 percent in fare was also offered to passengers during Eid holidays. Federal Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique has congratulated railways staff for their efforts in reviving the railway transportation facilities. He vowed to expedite their work to facilitate Pakistanis in the coming days.