Excessive rain enhances the threat of Dengue: Kh Salman

Lahore: Advisor to Chief Minister Punjab on Health Khawaja Salman Rafiq has said that due to excessive rain forecast during the current year, all the departments including Health will have to work harder to control dengue breeding.

He said this while presiding over a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Dengue at 90-Shar-e-Quaid-e-Azam, here today. Besides public representatives, Secretary Health Dr. Ijaz Munir, Special Secretary Health Frasat Iqbal, DCO Lahore Dr. Ahmad Javed Qazi, DCO Faisalabad Noor-ul-Amin Mengal, Additional Secretary Information and Culture Ghulam Abbas, Secretaries/ Additional Secretaries of various departments, Rescue-1122, representatives of District Governments of Rawalpindi and Sheikhupura, Dean IPH Prof. Muaz Ahmad and Chief Entomologist Dr. Wasim Akram attended the meeting.

The meeting was informed that dengue surveillance and larvaciding activities have already been started in the sensitive districts including Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Sheikhupura. It was informed that sufficient stock of insecticides including Deltamethrin and Tamiflu is available with the district governments and the Health Department.

Secretary Health while briefing the meeting informed that so far only two confirmed dengue patients have been reported so far in Punjab. Prof. Wasim Akram informed that training for master trainers is being conducted at Agriculture University Faisalabad. He observed that due to excessive rain forecast by the Met office, more focus should be laid on those districts from where even a single dengue patient had reported last year.

Kh. Salman Rafiq said that as the dengue season has started therefore Town Emergency Response Committees (TERC) be made immediately functional and their meetings should be held on weekly basis. He made it clear that legal action must be taken against the owners of such junkyards, factories, godowns etc. who are violating dengue regulations.