Effective steps to curb dengue breeding in Punjab stressed

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Secretary Capt (retd) Zahid Saeed has said that September is very important for dengue breeding so all the departments should strictly follow the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to control dengue.

No gaps should be left unattended at the provincial or district level while checking dengue, the chief secretary said this while addressing a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Dengue at the Committee Room of Civil Secretariat, according to a handout issued here on Wednesday.

Punjab Minister for Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Kh Salman Rafiq chaired the meeting. Provincial Minister for Primary and Secondary Health Kh Imran Nazir and the officers concerned were also present. The deputy commissioners and health CEOs of other districts participated in the meeting through a video link.

Additional Director General Dengue Control Dr Farrukh Sultan briefed the meeting that the water left in disused room coolers and other water containers had become hotspots of dengue larva breeding.

He said that despite regular awareness campaigns through the media and by surveillance teams, the response of people was very slow. The chief secretary directed the deputy commissioners to monitor the performance of government departments in dengue control activities and important issues must be brought to the knowledge of provincial authorities. 

Cap Zahid Saeed directed that a responsible person from Health Department, Rawalpindi, should visit the hospitals of Islamabad on daily basis to collect the data of dengue patients admitted there. He directed that a special team from Lahore should be sent to such districts for third party validation from where dengue larva was still not reported.

Kh Imran Nazir directed the School Education Department to give dengue hotspots checklist to the children as a homework and their parents should fill in the document regarding the removal of dengue hotspots.

Kh Salman Rafiq said that he would visit Gujranwala and Rawalpindi along with technical experts in the next week to monitor the situation. He said that he would also hold a meeting with the authorities of the federal capital for joint efforts to control dengue virus.