Dengue is completely under control in the province :Khawaja Salman Rafiq

Lahore: Advisor to Chief Minister on Health Khawaja Salman Rafiq has said that due to concentrated efforts of departments concerned, dengue is completely under control in the province. He said that the first phase of dengue season is over while the next phase will start with monsoon rains for which departments concerned should remain alert.

He said this while presiding over a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Dengue at Civil Secretariat, today. Besides elected representatives, senior officers of all concerned departments, public health experts, clinicians, entomologists and epidemiologists, representatives of Pakistan Railways, Meteorological Department, SNGPL and cantonment attended the meeting.

The meeting was briefed about the dengue control activities and indoor / outdoor dengue surveillance activities by the officers of Auqaf, Environment, Zakat & Ushar, Information & Culture, Agriculture, Higher & School Education, Fisheries, Transport, Finance, Local Government, Irrigation, Youth Affairs, Food, Labour, Cooperatives Departments, PITB, WASA, Rescue-1122 and other departments and agencies. The officers apprised the meeting regarding surveillance of graveyards, tyre shops, junkyards, water ponds and construction sites. It was informed that seminars are being organized by the Education and Cooperatives Departments while pamphlets are also being distributed among the people. Similarly, Imam of Auqaf Department mosques are also providing awareness about dengue in their sermons.

The concerned departments informed about the action plan to observe International Dengue Day on June 15. Kh. Salman Rafiq took note of the reporting of dengue  larvae in different union councils of Rawalpindi and Taxila. He directed the EDO Health Rawalpindi to conduct sweeping in the affected areas. It was informed that large scale construction work is being carried out in the cantonment area of Multan where large plazas are being constructed and dengue larvae has been reported from some construction sites.

Kh. Salman Rafiq directed that senior officers of Cantonment Board should immediately be contacted to solve the problem.

The Advisor expressed satisfaction over dengue control activities and steps taken by the government departments and said that ongoing dengue control activities should be continued to check dengue during monsoon season.