‘No dengue epidemic this year’

Special Assistant to Chief Minister Punjab on Health, Khawaja Salman Rafique has said that dengue will not take the form of an epidemic this year due to the awareness of people, effective strategy of experts and round the clock efforts of the Punjab government.
He expressed these views while addressing a seminar on dengue held at Institute of Public Health today. Khawaja Salman Rafique said that medical experts and health managers have learnt a lot from the bitter experience of last year and now dengue is not a new disease.
He said that during the last one year, Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif and his team worked day and night and took solid measures to control dengue and an effective system had been evolved with the consultation of experts to fight dengue.
Director General Health Punjab, Dr Nisar Ahmed Cheema, IPH Dean Professor Muaz Ahmed, Services Hospital Associate Professor Dr Tayyaba, Dr. Waseem Akram, EDO Health Lahore, Dr Inam ul Haq and Ganga Ram Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Ejaz Ahmed Shaikh also addressed the seminar.
They said that dengue disease was also a social problem and the whole society had to discharge its responsibilities to cope with this problem. They said the government had taken all precautionary measures as well as made arrangements for the treatment of patients, however, due to better vector and diseases surveillance, the breeding of mosquitoes was very low.
They said this problem could be controlled through collective efforts and there was a need to pay special attention to check outbreak of this disease. They said due to agonising loadshedding, people are compelled to store water at home.
Dr Nisar Cheema, while lauding the efforts of Punjab chief minister, said that the dengue had become an epidemic in July last year while up till now only six dengue cases were reported which was a proof of the success of the efforts of the government.