Yasmin for efforts to eradicate dengue from Punjab

LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Health Dr Yasmin Rashid on Friday presided over a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on dengue control here at Civil Secretariat, to review anti-dengue measures in the province.

Provincial Minister for Auqaf Syed Saeed-ul-Hassan Shah, Chief Secretary Punjab Kamran Ali Afzal, the secretary primary health, commissioner, deputy commissioner Lahore and officers concerned attended the meeting, while divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners participated through video-link. The meeting decided to intensify anti-dengue activities in all the districts, especially in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad. It also directed the Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) to ensure the availability of dengue counters in all the private hospitals.

Dr Yasmin Rashid said that keeping in view the current situation, special attention should be paid to indoor surveillance and in case of fever, dengue test of patient must be conducted. She directed the officers to improve the system of reporting dengue cases from private laboratories. She mentioned that continuous and concerted efforts were needed to eradicate dengue.

The Punjab CS directed all the departments to ensure implementation of the guidelines issued regarding dengue and improve the quality of monitoring, surveillance and reporting. The CS said that it was the responsibility of the deputy commissioners to monitor the anti-dengue campaign in districts, adding that no negligence would be tolerated in this regard.

The chief secretary also issued instructions to the deputy commissioners of Sheikhupura and Mianwali regarding timely resolution of dengue virus reporting (DVR) complaints. The secretary primary health briefed the meeting that, so far 450 confirmed dengue patients were reported this year and most of them were reported from Lahore.