High level meeting on Dengue held
Chitral Times Report
PESHAWAR: A meeting on dengue was held here on Wednesday with Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan in the chair reviewed the latest situation of dengue in the province and measures for prevention of dengue and other related matters in detail. The chief minister while stressing the need of a rigorous campaign to contain the disease, decided to constitute a coordination committee at the provincial level headed by the Chief Secretary for the purpose. The committee will define roles and responsibilities for the concerned departments and entities, ensure close coordination amongst them, monitor the implementation of dengue action plan and submit a weekly report to the Chief Minister on dengue situation. The meeting was briefed by the concerned officials on number of dengue patients in the province, arrangements for treatment of dengue patients, measures for prevention of the disease and various other related issues. Special Assistant to the Chief Minister Kamran Bangash, concerned administrative secretaries, Commissioner Peshawar and relevant high ups of Health department attended the meeting.
It was informed that dengue situation is under control in the province, so far 1173 positive cases of dengue have been reported in the province, out of which 1068 have recovered, currently 105 dengue patients were under treatment across the province and no deaths have been reported from dengue in the province so far. The meeting was further informed that the highest number of dengue cases had been reported in Peshawar district with 253 cases out of which 213 patients have recovered so far. It was further informed that 10 dengue hotspots have been identified in Peshawar district adding that a comprehensive action plan has been approved and shared with districts for the prevention of dengue, and the necessary medicines and supplies required for the prevention of dengue have been provided to the districts.
It was further told that under the Locum system, entomologists have been recruited and posted in 20 districts while recruitment of 37 regular entomologists is also underway and the new recruiters will be posted in the districts soon. The meeting was informed that Dengue Units with at least 10 beds have been set up in all District Headquarters and Tehsil Headquarters Hospitals and Dengue Focal Persons have also been nominated at districts level. Free medical camps are also being set-up in Peshawar and other high risk districts to facilitate the suspected patients. Mosquito repellent sprays and fumigation campaigns are being carried out to eradicate dengue mosquitoes and larva/rector.
The meeting decided to formulate a media strategy to give awareness to the public about dengue prevention on a large scale and to run awareness campaigns on a daily basis. Talking on the occasion, the Chief Minister directed the administrations of all the districts to implement the dengue action plan in its letter and spirit. He also directed the authorities concerned to ensure effective monitoring of the implementation of dengue action plan. The provincial government will provide all resources to ensure the implementation of the plan. The chair also directed Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners to hold regular meetings regarding dengue prevention and to ensure the participation of concerned members of the Provincial Assembly in these meetings. Stressing on the need for better coordination among all the concerned departments and entities for effective control of dengue, the Chief Minister also directed to put in place an effective mechanism for coordination in this regard.
