ISLAMABAD: With five thousand cases of dengue fever confirmed so far and no let up in sight to its fast spread across the country, health authorities seem to be totally helpless in controlling the fatal disease.
“The Health Ministry and its attached departments have failed to prevent the outbreak of the deadly dengue fever and as a result, dozens of people are falling victim to this fatal disease in different parts of the country with every passing day,” said an official at the Health Ministry on condition of anonymity.
“We have at least 5,000 confirmed cases of dengue fever all over the country and the higher authorities at the Ministry of Health said that it is not an alarming situation to get worried about. As a matter of fact, the health authorities seem to be totally helpless and rather they have failed to take the required measures to prevent the disease from spreading,” he said.
Panic prevention: The official said that so far around 40 people had lost their lives across the country but that figure could be much higher as the Health Ministry was concealing the real numbers to avert panic amongst the masses.
He said suspected dengue fever patients visiting the private and public sector hospitals were much higher in number than what was being reported by the Health Ministry officials.
The official said that the alarming situation of dengue fever had forced the government to seek the help of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and experts from the global body would soon visit Pakistan to see for themselves the current state of affairs and to gauge as to what assistance they could provide to control it.
Dr Waseem Khawaja, spokesman for the Pakistan Institute of Medical Science (PIMS), told Pakistan Today, “We are attending 15 to 20 patients infected with the dengue fever on daily basis and most of them are coming from Chakwal.” He said that PIMS and other hospitals in the capital city were trying their best to cope with the situation.
Owing to the alarming spread of the dengue fever, the Pakistan Baitul Maal (PBM) on Monday came forward to assist the Health Ministry and other departments concerned in its fight against the deadly ailment.
Allocated: PBM Managing Director Zamurd Khan, while addressing a press conference, announced the allocation of Rs 100 million for dengue patients admitted both in public and private hospitals throughout the country. He said that the number of dengue patients was increasing day by day and a large number of people were affected by the deadly virus.
