PM urges coordination to control epidemics

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Monday stressed the need for developing a national coordination mechanism for controlling epidemics such as dengue fever and assured provision of requisite finances in this regard.
He expressed these views while chairing a National Conference on Dengue Response at the State Guest House.
Adviser to Prime Minister Shehnaz Wazir Ali, Punjab Governor Latif Khosa, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the cabinet secretary, all chief secretaries and chief executives and medical superintendents of some hospitals were also present.
The chief secretaries and medical experts gave presentations to the PM on various aspects of the dengue virus and its control. Officials shared the statistics regarding dengue and steps being taken to curb it. They said dengue was deeply concentrated in densely-populated areas.
Gilani was further apprised that creating awareness among the people was the most important step in this regard as no vaccination was available.
The officials also suggested that surveillance programme and intelligence sharing on disease control should be done as was practiced in the developed world.
A coordination and strategy cell had also been set up at the federal level that would work to mobilise and harmonise resources from federal government, provincial health departments and international partners for the purpose.
Gilani said dengue had emerged as a “challenging” public health issue in the recent past giving rise to the need of a thorough technical discourse to guide the public and policymakers. He stressed the need to address “technical issues” in a “professional manner”, warning that otherwise it might lead to misinformation and chaos.
Gilani said the national conference had been held to show the “support and solidarity” of the federal government to the efforts being made at the provincial level, adding that dengue was not a problem peculiar to our country or a specific province.
The prime minister said health essentially was a provincial subject after the successful implementation of the 18th Amendment but the federal government will always remain cognizant of its constitutional responsibilities with regard to issues requiring inter-provincial coordination.
After the conference, Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan told reporters that Gilani was of the view that the people should not be scared of the dengue fever as the country’s medical experts had the capability of controlling the epidemic.
Earlier, the PM visited Sheikh Zayed Hospital to review the arrangements made for free treatment of dengue patients. He went to each patient in the dengue ward, inquired after their health and presented fruit and bouquets to them.