- Forms committee to ensure dengue prevention and control
- Approx 30,000 people affected in KP, says Salman Rafique
ISLAMABAD: Responding to the current reports of dengue cases in the federal capital, Federal Health Minister Saira Afzal Tarar stressed the need for maintaining high-level vigilance to prevent an outbreak in the metropolitan.
According to sources, she directed that case response should be essentially undertaken to ensure that there was proper surveillance, especially in the areas from where dengue cases were reported and issued directives while chairing a high-level meeting here on Wednesday.
The meeting was also attended by Minister of State for Capital Administration Development Division (CADD) Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Punjab Minister for Specialised Medical Care Khawaja Salman Rafique, Punjab Minister for Primary and Secondary Health Khawaja Imran Nazir, CADD Secretary, NIH Executive Director, Islamabad Chief Commissioner and heads of tertiary care hospitals in Islamabad besides other senior health officials.
The meeting took a stock of the current reports of dengue cases and discussed in detail the measures being taken for prevention and control of dengue in the capital.
The federal health minister urged senior officials to work in close coordination with each other to prevent the residents of the city from catching the virus. The minister said that a five-member team for each union council should be constituted for surveillance, and asked the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration to prepare a list of high-risk zones.
She called for urgent steps by Capital Development Authority (CDA) to ensure safe management of solid waste and cleanliness in the city. The minister also constituted a committee under the chairmanship of NIH Executive Director Brigadier Aamir Ikram to coordinate with all the stakeholders, and to take all measures necessary to ensure dengue prevention and control.
She also said that any human resource related issue in CDA and ICT must be resolved expeditiously to ensure effective response to challenges like dengue.
On the occasion, CADD minister said that his ministry was vigilant and that all hospitals in the capital under his ministry were fully prepared to manage and treat dengue patients. CADD secretary also informed the meeting that a coordination cell had been established in his ministry on dengue prevention.
Khawaja Salman Rafique and Khawaja Imran Nazir briefed the federal minister and shared the experience of Punjab government in controlling dengue. Punjab government also offered capacity building to Islamabad health personnel and access to dengue dashboard.
Separately, Punjab Minister for Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Khawaja Salman Rafique said that due to the collective efforts and concrete steps taken by the government departments, dengue situation was under control in Punjab.
He informed that so far 162 dengue patients had been reported in Punjab during the last nine months, which also included patients from other provinces and abroad. He said that only 26 patients had been reported in Rawalpindi district, however, due to the favourable atmosphere for dengue breeding, the concerned departments and the surveillance teams had to increase their field activities for eliminating hotspots and larvae seeding in the high-risk areas.
He also directed the health authorities to record separate data of dengue patients from KPK, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Rafique also said that red stickers would be placed on the doors of such houses from where dengue larva would be reported in Rawalpindi because the irresponsible attitude of such residents created health hazards for their neighbours.
He also said that Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif had given clear directions not to politicise dengue outbreak in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and that his government would extend all-out help to them. He added that the data of dengue patients who belong to KP and Azad Kashmir and were under treatment in Rawalpindi hospitals, would be shared with those governments for ensuring case response (like dengue spray) activities in their areas.
He informed that approximately 30 thousand people had been affected in KP and said that there was a need to remain highly alert in Rawalpindi due to the continuous movement of people between Rawalpindi and KP.
Rawalpindi Commissioner Talat Mehmood Gondal also reviewed the performance reports of different departments critically and directed them to ensure complete implementation on the dengue SOPs to overcome the problem. He said that no negligence would be tolerated in this regard.
