KP dengue outbreak warning signs ignored
The deadly mosquito-borne disease, with which the inhabitants of Punjab are uneasily familiar, is spreading by the day in Peshawar, with over a 1,000 confirmed cases and five to ten unofficial fatalities so far. The most affected area is Tehkal where the first victims surfaced in July, but the matter was taken lightly by the concerned authorities, leading to the present alarming situation. Timely fumigation of affected areas, public awareness programmes, free and fast laboratory–testing facilities, medical camps for immediate treatment, and other preventive steps, such as proper water disposal, were not undertaken on an emergency basis. Reportedly, Rs.400 million in international funds was also not utilised for purchasing pesticides, while 3,000 nets (out of a total of 225,000 gifted by UNICEF and sold in the market by the previous KP government) were lying about in warehouses. The KP government has finally woken from its slumber on these life- saving features, and also belatedly accepted the assistance of the Punjab government in combating the disease.
One of the success stories in the Punjab is the effective manner in which dengue outbreaks were handled, and the stern way in which the all-important preventive measures were conducted, monitored and implemented by the concerned departments, so that for the last couple of years the province has been almost disease-free. Three Punjab mobile health units, with medics, paramedics and equipment have arrived in Peshawar and started testing and treating patients, and with their savvy, born of bitter experience, this helpline might just tip the scales back to normal. But, the initial neglect means that things may become worse before they get better.
Because of the possible human cost involved, the Punjab and KP governments overrode their intense mutual political and personal antipathy, with the Punjab Minister for Primary and Secondary Health coordinating swiftly with his KP counterpart to address the escalating situation meaningfully. For the sake of suffering humanity, point scoring or political mileage agreeably took a back seat, though the choice of PTI–basher Amir Muqam as the PML-N point man was avoidable to save PTI face.