A three day international conference on dengue organised by the joint collaboration of the World Health Organisation (WHO), government of Pakistan and government of Punjab, ended on Wednesday at the Pearl Continental Hotel.
The special assistant to the Chief Minister for Health, Khwaja Salman Rafique, said the International Dengue Conference had been successful, with experts of national and international fame sharing their work and experience to come up with concrete recommendations for the people of Pakistan to handle such crises in the future. The government of Punjab would look forward to the results of the deliberations, and promise to devote the necessary resources to implement the recommendations, which would improve the efforts for prevention and control of dengue in Punjab, he added. Dr Guido Sabatinelli, a WHO Representative, said that unfortunately, Pakistan had countered the worst attack of dengue fever last year because nobody had prepared for the outbreak. He added that the WHO would continue to help Pakistan in combating any possible attacks of this year as well as in the future. Secretary Health Punjab Captain R Arif Nadeem presented recommendations in which he focused on the institutionalism of dengue control efforts in all endemic districts by establishing sustainable dengue control units, strengthening surveillance at all levels (human resource, integration of HIS and DEWS), establishing an operational outbreak emergency response plan and developing plans for care providers.
Higher Education Secretary plays dengue rapid-fire with students: Higher Education Secretary Dr Ijaz Munir inspected Government Islamia College Railway Road to check the state of cleanliness in the college. The secretary also took a dengue awareness test of 200 college students. He appreciated the untiring efforts of college principal Prof Amjad Ali Shakir and college administration. Director Education Lahore Divison Nasim Akhtar was also accompanying the secretary on inspection visit.