Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that in order to counter the shortage of pesticides to control dengue, pesticides would be imported and special measures would be taken. He was addressing a meeting of the special emergency committee set up for controlling dengue virus on Friday.
It was discussed in the meeting that the pesticides required were to be imported from either France or India and as it would take more time to import the pesticides from France, importing them from India was to be preferred but there were issues with that.
The chief minister told the health secretary to negotiate for the import of pesticides from India and in case of any hindrance, he would personally make sure that the task is executed.
He said that the campaign against dengue should be furthered and that billions of rupees were spent on the import of granite from abroad for decoration of hospitals in the past but no attention was paid to the purchase of quality medicine and machinery. He said that every human life was dear to him and maximum resources would be provided to rescue dengue victims. He said that a special cell should be established for the import of medicines and equipment from abroad.
He told the Lahore district coordination officer (DCO) to take action against the inflated prices of mosquito repellants and ensure that hotels, clubs and public places were adequately fumigated. He said that the special helpline for providing people with information regarding dengue would start functioning from Saturday. The 50-line helpline would operate round the clock and 150 doctors and lady doctors would work in three shifts on the helpline.
He said that special measures were being taken to protect people from dengue and emergency town committees comprising elected representatives were also working round the clock to eradicate dengue. He said that all segments of the society needed to be mobilized for the eradication of the dengue menace and special committees of students should be formed to pay door-to-door visits to people in order to impart them with dengue awareness.
Taking notice of the unavailability of adequate medical facilities for dengue patients in Sheikh Zayed Hospital, the chief minister told the secretary health to contact the hospital administration and to ensure treatment facilities for dengue patients. He told Provincial Minister Abdul Ghafoor to visit Kasur, Okara and Sheikhupura as soon as possible and review arrangements for providing medical facilities to dengue patients in the hospitals.
He said that fumigating houses was of vital importance to control dengue and town committees should evolve a plan in this regard and ensure its proper monitoring. Earlier, chairmen of town committees gave detailed briefings regarding steps taken in their areas for the elimination of dengue. Addressing a seminar at the Al Hamra, Shahbaz appealed to the civil society, doctors, teachers, students, politicians, workers and all segments of the society to join the ongoing campaign against dengue virus as collective efforts are needed to counter this menace.
He said that an effective awareness campaign has been launched regarding preventive measures against dengue virus and the seminar will prove to be a milestone in this regard. He said that the participants of the seminar should spread the information gained from the seminar to every nook and corner of Lahore and Punjab. He made an appeal to the people of all walks of life to join the movement with commitment and spirit of sacrifice. He said that private hospitals should minimize their rate of profit in the treatment of dengue patients.
DENGUE FEAR: NO MORNING ASSEMBLIES: Provincial Minister for Education Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman has said that due to dengue virus morning assemblies in all the government and private educational institutions of Punjab has been banned for two months. The reason behind that decision is the mosquito which causes dengue fever bites in the morning and evening time. Therefore, the step is being taken to prevent children from this virus, he added. The minister said that the direction regarding fumigation have already been passed to the administration of all the public and private schools and to monitor all these activities, a control room has been set up in the education department.
SPECIAL BRANCH TO MONITOR DENGUE FACILITIES: Officials from Special Branch will monitor health facilities being provided by Hospitals and Health Department to the dengue patients. Shahbaz while showing distrust on Health Department and hospital administrations, ordered to depute officials of Special Branch for monitoring health facilities being provided to the dengue patients. The CM decided this unanimously after finding Health Department’s and hospital’s reports on dengue forwarded to him as unsatisfactory.
Sources said that after the instructions from the CM Punjab, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Punjab Javed Iqbal has immediately deputed officials from Special Branch at all governmental hospitals. The officials of Special Branch will not only monitor health facilities and services but also send detailed reports to CM Punjab after compiling reports on daily basis. It is learnt that Special Branch officials will serve at different hospital in two shifts of 12 hours.
