Minister satisfied with efforts against dengue

LAHORE :Punjab Minister for Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Khawaja Salman Rafiq said due to integrated efforts of concerned departments dengue situation in Punjab is under control.

He was presiding over a meeting of cabinet committee on dengue at Civil Secretariat on Monday.  He directed the officials to continue anti-dengue drive for another month. He also directed to boost dengue surveillance activities in district Chakwal and said that a third party would conduct validation of this activity as well.

Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Special Secretary Dr Sajid Chohan, Primary and Secondary Health Special Secretary Dr Faisal Zahoor, MPA Majid Zahoor, Secretary Housing Khurram Aga, senior officers of the concerned departments, including PITB and Special Branch were also present in the meeting. The Deputy Commissioners and Chief Executive Officers Health of other districts participated in the meeting through video link. 

The meeting was briefed about the current dengue situation in the province. As compared to 2016, both the health departments showed an outstanding performance in 2017. Despite patients from KPK and Islamabad, dengue patients in Lahore and Rawalpindi were decreased in current year.

World Diabetes Day: Pakistan, like rest of the world, will observe World Diabetes Day with this year’s theme “Women and Diabetes” on Tuesday (today). According to the World Diabetes Day organisation, “Diabetes is the 9th leading cause of death in women globally, causing 2.1 million deaths each year.” As per the global statistics, 199 women are living with diabetes today-every one in 10 women—and the number is expected to rise 313 million by the year 2040. Access to essential diabetes medicines and technologies, self-management education and information are said to be the key to achieve optimal diabetes outcomes.  

Meanwhile, in his message on the World Diabetes Day, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said people should be effectively sensitised about the treatment of diabetes because human body faces different complications due to delayed diagnoses and treatment of this disease.

The chief minister said adoption of precautionary measures are more useful than the treatment and added that use of balanced diet, exercise and regular walk are helpful to remain safe from this disease. He said creating awareness among patients and public was essential for adoption of precautionary measures so that the patients could remain safe from the complications arising due to this disease. He said the government had taken different steps so that the people could remain protected and the disease could be controlled.

He said the government was utilising all-out resources to help the people to remain safe from this disease and observed that it was equally important to continue awareness campaign on the sustained basis for saving the people from this disease.