Dengue preventive measures

LAHORE :Punjab Minister for Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Khawaja Salman Rafiq chaired the meeting of Cabinet Committee on dengue in the committee room, Civil Secretariat on Wednesday.

According to a handout issued here, Minister P&S Health Kh Imran Nazir, Ms Lubna Faisal and Raja Hanif MPAs, senior secretaries and other senior officers of government departments, public health experts, convener of DEAG Prof Faisal Masood, representatives from PITB, special branch, police and other institutions were present. Commissioners, deputy commissioners, CEOs Health of other districts participated in the meeting through a video link. 

Prof Faisal Masood said special dengue preventive measures should be taken in Rawalpindi, Attock, Hasanabdal, Taxila and Wah Cantt areas due to dengue outbreak in KPK. He said special dengue surveillance should be carried out to check the virus. Deputy commissioners and CEOs Health of Gujranwala, Kasur, Lahore, Sheikhupura, Faisalabad, Attock, Vehari, Sahiwal, Sargodha, Rawalpindi, Layyah, Jhang and DG Khan briefed the meeting about anti-dengue measures and surveillance activities being carried out in their respective districts.

Kh Salman Rafiq said dengue surveillance and spray should be conducted in Imambargahs to protect people attending Majalis. He directed for sending a special team from Multan to Bahawalpur for third-party validation (TPV) of dengue control activities. Technical experts should be sent from Allied Hospital Faisalabad to Sargodha to assess the technical expertise, capacity-building and to review the dengue protocol being observed in hospitals of Sargodha, the minister added.

Minister P&S Health Kh Imran Nazir said if dengue is not confirmed in suspected dengue patients, blood tests of Chikungunya of such patients should also be performed to remove any doubt about the disease of similar symptoms. He directed the Health CEO to furnish a comprehensive report in 48 hours regarding the health facilities including BHUs and RHCs to ensure that no government property is under illegal custody of any Qabza group. Kh Imran Nazir warned that no Qabza group would be allowed to grab government property.