Punjab Chief Minister’s Special Assistant on Health Khwaja Salman Rafiq has said as a result of the effective strategy evolved by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and the untiring efforts of the government departments concerned, the dengue situation is fully under control. Due to the increased public awareness, community is also participating in dengue control measures, he said. He expressed these views while presiding over a Cabinet Committee meeting to review the pace of implementation on the steps taken by different departments for dengue prevention and control, on Wednesday.
Besides the elected representatives of Lahore, the city’s commissioner and DCO, secretaries, additional secretaries and other senior officers of various departments, including the Health, Education, Local Government, Information and Culture, Auqaf and Labour, attended the meeting. Lahore Commissioner Jawad Rafiq Malik informed about indoor and outdoor Vector Surveillance, de-silting of sewer lines and drains, lifting solid waste from different areas of the city by LWMC and the overall cleanliness of Lahore.
He also briefed the meeting about the conversation with the railway authorities in Lahore for removing heaps of garbage and solid waste along with the railway tracks and draining ponds of stagnant water in Shahdara.
Additional Secretary Health Technical Dr Anwar Janjua, while briefing the meeting, said so far the highest number of dengue cases has been reported from the Data Ganj Bakhsh and Ravi towns. The senior officers of higher and school education told about the dengue awareness and surveillance activities initiated in schools and colleges in different districts of Punjab.
The meeting was also informed that the Auqaf department is also arranging special lectures by Ulema on dengue awareness during the Friday prayers and other occasions where the religious scholars talk about the preventive measures and importance of cleanliness.
Local Government Special Secretary informed that the inspection of tyre shops, water filtration plants, junkyards and graveyards is also being conducted. The senior officers form the Environment and Labour departments, the Institute of Public Health, Punjab Information Technology Board and DIG Special Branch also briefed about the activities of their departments regarding the prevention and control of dengue.
The chair directed the administration of the LGH, the Children’s Hospital, the Jinnah Hospital, the Services Hospital and the Railways Carein Hospital to improve the status of cleanliness and the removal of stagnant water from the premises of their hospitals.
