ISLAMABAD – Dengue fever hit the Sindh province harder than other provinces during 2010 as compared to 2009, the National Assembly on Wednesday was informed on Wednesday by Inter-provincial Coordination Minister Raza Rabbani. The minister held last year’s massive floods responsible for the dengue outbreak, adding that the damage had been curtailed thanks to enhanced surveillance undertaken during the floods and the laboratory diagnostic facilities provided by the government. Rabbani said around 34 people died in Sindh in the last two years, six each in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while dengue killed three in Islamabad and four in Azad Kashmir.
He said the surveillance teams were sent to affected areas across the country and recommendations were given to local authorities for mitigation and effective prevention and control of future outbreaks. Rabbani said the provincial and district health authorities were advised to undertake preventive measures through seasonal awareness and alert letters issued by the National Institute of Health (NIH) containing information on imminent public health threats and their prevention, circulated amongst more than 600 addresses.
The minister said the National Guidelines for prevention and control were prepared and shared with all stakeholders. He said these were available on the National Institute of Health website. An Advisory “Preventive Measures for Viral Haemorrhagic Fever Infection” was issued to all provincial and area health departments on October 5, 2010.
