Punjab government’s response
After almost a dozen deaths and at least 36 more confirmed swine flu cases on Saturday the Punjab government finally sounded the alert. Since the three cases identified in Karachi also travelled from Punjab, there is clearly an urgent need for the provincial government to take whatever steps are necessary to ensure this outbreak is contained before it gets any worse. Nobody needs reminding how this virus took around 300,000 lives in 2009-10, when the Mexican outbreak spread to 74 countries. The first sighting of this particular strain should have triggered alarm bells. It should not have taken so many deaths for the government to realise something was wrong.
The Punjab government is no stranger to an out of control viral outbreak claiming thousands of lives. The memories of the dengue deaths some years ago are still fresh. Having gone through such a traumatic experience the provincial government should have been all the more aware of the importance of nipping such evils in the bud. Back then CM Shahbaz Sharif laid all blame on Islamabad – where PPP ran the central government. But now since the PML-N is in power, such excuses are not an option. The party will have to take the blame for its inaction and ensure it is ahead of the curve from here.
Considering the nature of swine flu, it is difficult to detect in the early stages, which further complicates the government’s work. Since it starts with ordinary flu symptoms, like cough, headache, or even fever, most patients dismiss it initially. That is why spreading awareness quickly will be of the utmost importance. Also, this disease usually feeds on weaker people, who are mostly from lower working classes and not usually too well-informed, which explains the initial upward graph to an extent. But now that the urgency has been duly registered, the Punjab government should place this issue foremost on its priority list.
