Ijaz Kakakhel
To control the spread of dengue virus in federal capital, a legislative body of Upper House of parliament on Thursday was informed that health experts have visited around 182,112 hotspots in rural areas and 64,743 hotspots in urban areas, besides that section 144 has been imposed in Capital Territory and wrongdoers have also been fined.
These disclosers were made during Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services Regulations and Coordination was held at Parliament House on Thursday with Senator Dr. Muhammad Humayun Mohmand in Chair. The Committee was briefed about the precautionary measures taken by District Administration and Health Department for the Prevention of Dengue in Islamabad Capital Territory. Zaeem Zia, DHO Islamabad, informed that Health department with the collaboration of District Administration has visited around 182,112 hotspots in rural areas and 64,743 hotspots in urban areas, besides that section 144 has been imposed in Capital Territory and wrongdoers have also been fined in order to control the spread of dengue virus. DHO claimed that the cases of dengue virus in 2023 will be certainly low as compared to 6,415 cases in 2022. The Chair Committee deferred the deliberations and decided to take up the matter at the end of December in order to make the comparative analysis of 2023 with the previous year.
While discussing the current status of Mother Child Hospital, which is being constructed in PIMS with the collaboration of Japan. Special Secretary for NHSR&C stated that the civil work has been completed and machinery will be installed by the end of July,2023. However, the general equipment worth around Rs3.6 million could not be procured because of government ban on imports. The Chairman Committee directed the Finance Ministry to uplift the ban on the import of essential items, so that the necessary equipment for Mother Child Hospital could be procured at earliest.
Furthermore, the matter of MRI machines in PIMS was deliberated upon. Officials apprised LC’s have been opened for the procurement of MRI machines with the efforts of Finance Ministry and State Bank of Pakistan. However, the first MRI machine would be installed by the 6th of September, officials maintained.
Additionally, Senator Prof. Dr. Mehr Taj Roghani highlighted the issue of breast feeding and stated that bottle feeding is the primary reason of diarrhea and nutrients deficiency in the children. She informed that Rs100 billion has been spent annually on artificial milk.
