Amraiz Khan
Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar has directed to distribute anti-dengue kits among the people at their doorsteps, said spokesman for Punjab government on Wednesday. In the first phase, these kits will be distributed among the people living in the red zone area in Rawalpindi and the scope of distribution will be expanded to other areas if required.
The primary & secondary health department has started working on preparing anti-dengue kits. Usman Buzdar has directed to distribute these kits early adding that Punjab the government will provide all possible resources and dengue will be defeated with continued hard work.
Medicines are available in hospitals for the treatment of dengue patients and instructions have been issued to immediately remove any slackness in this regard, he added.
Moreover Chief Secretary Punjab Yousaf Naseem Khokhar on Wednesday directed the Punjab Healthcare Commission to ensure reporting about dengue cases from private hospitals and labs.
He issued these directions while presiding over a meeting to review the measures being taken to control dengue, at Civil Secretariat. Speaking at the meeting, the Chief Secretary said that guidelines about dengue should be implemented in letter and spirit as no negligence would be tolerated in this regard.
He said that increase in number of patients in Rawalpindi and Lahore in a matter of concern, adding that work would have to be done on emergent basis to overcome the situation. He warned that action would be taken against negligent officers and officials. He mentioned that the a special cell set up by Chief Minister Punjab is working round the clock to deal with the issues related to dengue control efforts. He said that surveillance teams should focus on quality and hiring of staff should be done if required. All required resources would be provided to combat dengue, he added. He stated that concerted efforts are needed to eradicate dengue once and for all. “Awareness about dengue should be enhanced as people’s cooperation can be very helpful in efforts to control dengue; relevant departments should play active role in this regard,” he maintained. He ordered that availability of best healthcare and trained doctors and nurses be ensured for dengue patients in government hospitals and other health facilities.
Secretary Primary Health Capt (r ) Muhammad Usman told the meeting that as many as 2751 dengue cases have been confirmed in Punjab so far, adding that most of the cases have been reported from Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, and Sargodha. He stated that private hospital and labs are not reporting about dengue cases which is aggravating the situation. He said that in view of emergency in Rawalpindi, a 350 bed private hospital in Rawat has been arranged to manage patients load and trained doctors and nurses of health department have been deputed there.
