Punjab Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar inaugurated the ‘International Conference on Dengue, 2020’, organised under the aegis of Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department at a local hotel on Thursday.
Addressing the inaugural session, the chief minister said that dengue disease has affected several countries including Pakistan and assured that the government would continue working hard for complete eradication of this disease. The chief minister told that he visited different districts last year to monitor the field situation. The Punjab government took immediate steps to control the situation.
More than 20 thousand dengue cases surfaced in Punjab in 2011 and around 350 died. Dengue again surfaced in Punjab in 2019 and Rawalpindi was the worst-hit district.
I was very much aggrieved over the loss of lives due to dengue in 2019, he said. The government ran an organized anti-dengue campaign which proved successful. Provincial minister and secretary health took an active part in this campaign along with political representatives, he added.
He said that political leadership was duty-bound to provide moral, financial and administrative support for health and safety of the citizens while other departments were responsible to ensure implementation of the devised plan. The government was engaged in devising a permanent solution to overcome dengue instead of taking some temporary steps and the government was fully committed to providing a healthy atmosphere to the citizens.
He appreciated the services of assembly members, civil society as well as politicians for the eradication of dengue and said that protection of citizens’ health was a responsibility of the government.
The PTI government was fully committed in this regard, he added. The chief minister reiterated that timely eradication of dengue and other deadly diseases was an important priority of the Punjab government and it was working to minimize the negative effects of dengue disease.
He hoped that the government’s efforts would bear fruit and this international conference would prove a game-changer event for the eradication of dengue disease.
The inaugural session was also addressed by Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid, Secretary Muhammad Usman and WHO Pakistan representative Dr Palitha Mahipala. Health Advisor Hanif Pitafi, foreign experts, vice-chancellors of medical colleges, doctors and scientists attended the conference.
Later, the CM went to the residence of Executive Director Alhamra Arts Council Athar Ali Khan to express condolence over the death of his mother.
Meanwhile, CM Usman Buzdar sought a report from the Health Department about a news-item aired at media regarding surfacing of a polio case in DG Khan. He expressed indignation over the performance of line departments and asserted that surfacing of poliovirus was a very serious matter.
I will not tolerate any negligence in the anti-polio campaign, he warned. ‘It is our collective responsibility to safeguard the future of the country and coordinated efforts should be made to improve the situation.
