Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Saturday that with the efforts of the medical community, health officials and the political team, dengue epidemic was on the decline.
Highlighting the government efforts to curb the epidemic, the CM said the entire province and especially Lahore witnessed one of the severest outbreaks of dengue fever in the world. He said a comprehensive anti-viral plan was underway to cope with all viral diseases including dengue.
He said hundreds of precious lives had been saved after following treatment techniques learnt from Sri Lankan experts, adding that nearly 150 doctors and nurses were being sent to Thailand and Singapore for training on treating dengue patients.
Dengue Cell Chairman Dr Waseem Akram said the serotype of dengue was being done in Jinnah Hospital and the Institute of Public Health, while the facility is being extended to other hospitals as well to conduct proper research on dengue virus. Health Secretary Jehanzeb Khan said the serotype 2 and 3 were prevalent in Lahore, while all treatment and diagnostic facilities were being extended to patients in all public hospitals.
Agriculture Secretary Arif Nadeem said 90 percent of dengue mosquitoes bred indoors while only 10 percent bred outdoors. “This shows the importance of making people aware about dengue and encourage them to take measures in order to curb the dengue outbreak,” he said, adding that other steps including building the capacity of government offices to remove dengue, removing solid waste from the city and importing fumigators had also been taken.
