‘Epidemic can be managed if community disease transmission halted’

Islamabad : Epidemics can be managed only if the disease transmission is checked at community level, said Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad director general (health services) Dr Hasan Urooj.

He told ‘The News’ that after novel coronavirus broke out in country early this year, he, in addition to the normal response to the health emergency, introduced three innovative programmes, including community screening of residents, focus on poor urban slums, where conditions are conducive for the spread of COVID-19, and plasma transfusion therapy.

“The community screening initiative, which was the first of its kind in the entire region, was appreciated by international partners. We trained a team of workers to visit every house in slum areas and conduct a verbal autopsy to screen coronavirus in the community. That made the difference,” he said.

The DG said his directorate had resources 10 times less than those available to other departments but as its response to pandemic was speedy and effective, the COVID-19 cases reported in Islamabad's urban areas overseen by it were 10 times less than those recorded by rural Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

He said as the government announced the suspension of all clinical services in hospital OPDs and vaccination programmes fearing the spread of the virus, he reorganised the directorate’s entire resource pool to utilise the ‘hidden resource’, sought help from government partners and NGOs, and formed 10 ‘test, track and quarantine’ teams, five spray teams, five community surveying teams and three coordinating teams.

Dr Hasan Urooj regretted that many health workers, who fought COVID-19 on the front line, hadn’t been rewarded yet despite the prime minister’s announcement and among them was his staff member, Tariq Mahmood, who lost life to coronavirus in the line of duty.

He credited his team’s members, especially medics Dr Iqbal, Dr Sattar, Dr Saira, Dr Sarah and Dr Shahnaz, supervisors Ali and Asif and worker Amal Khan, for the accomplishment and said meagre resources and other problems didn’t impact their dedication and commitment to work.