Punjab Minister for Specialized Healthcare & Medical Education Kh. Salman Rafique has said that due to the collective efforts and concrete steps taken by the government departments, dengue situation is under control in Punjab. He said that so far 162 dengue patients have been reported in Punjab during the last nine months in which the patients from other provinces and abroad also included. He said that only 26 patients have been reported in Rawalpindi district however, due to the favorable atmosphere for dengue breeding the concerned departments and the surveillance teams have to increase their field activities for eliminating hotspots and larvae siding in the high risk areas. He directed the health authorities to record separate data of dengue patients from KPK, Kashmir, Gilgit & Baltistan. He was presiding over a meeting to review dengue situation in Commissioner’s Office Rawalpindi. Besides Minister for Primary & Secondary Health Kh. Imran Nazir, Commissioner Talat Mehmood Gondal, Prof. Waseem Akram, Additional Commissioner Revenue Aqeel Ahmed Khan, Officers of district administration, CEO Health Rawalpindi, Director Social Welfare, officers from Rescue 1122 and other concerned departments were also present in the meeting. While addressing the meeting, Minister for Primary Health Kh. Imran Nazir said that dengue has become a national issue as this disease has been spreading all over the country and every citizen should play his/her role in the public welfare activities and keep their houses and surrounding neat and clean and remove stagnant water. Prof. Waseem Akram appreciated the efforts of Rawalpindi administration and the Health Department due to their hard work people of Rawalpindi are safe to a great extend however, present efforts should be continued with the same spirit for a sustainable control on dengue. Commissioner Rawalpindi Talat Mehmood Gondal reviewed the performance reports of different departments critically and directed them to ensure complete implementation on the dengue SoPs and enhance their activities to overcome the problem. He said that no negligence would be tolerated in this regard.
