LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Specialised Healthcare & Medical Education Khawaja Salman Rafiq has directed all the Deputy Commissioners of dengue sensitive districts to conduct third-party validation of indoor and outdoor dengue surveillance to ensure adoption of effective measures to check its breeding.
He stated this while presiding over a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Dengue at Civil Secretariat Committee Room, here on Monday.
The minister said that rainy season has commenced due to which hotspots of dengue breeding will increase which need to be eradicated through effective surveillance, chemically as well as mechanically. He further directed that accumulated water in tree holes should also be checked in such areas where dengue patients are being reported but larvae are not detected.
General Dengue Control Additional Director Dr. Farrukh Sultan presented an overall scenario of dengue in the province. He said that during the first six months of the current year, 36 patients have so far been reported in Punjab out of which 12 belong to Lahore. He informed that sufficient stock of chemical is available with the department and the districts can obtain these chemicals according to their need.
The DCs of Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Attock, Kasur, Rahim Yar Khan, Chakwal, Jhang and Bahawalnagar gave briefings regarding steps taken for dengue control in their districts. DC Gujranwala informed that special attention is being paid to the ceramics godowns to check dengue breeding.
The minister directed to call a meeting of the technical committee to review the present dengue situation and submit their recommendations for effective control on dengue in the coming days.
Special Secretary Specialised Healthcare Dr. Sajid Mehmood Chohan, Special Secretary Primary & Secondary Health Dr. Faisal Zahoor, Sheikhupura MPA Pir Ashraf Rasool, Rawalpindi MPA Muhammad Hanif, secretaries, additional secretaries of the concerned departments attended the meeting while Deputy Commissioners and CEOs Health of other districts participated in the meeting through a video link.