GUJAR KHAN: All schools and colleges in Punjab have been instructed not to arrange anti-dengue spray on their own, without first obtaining approval from district health authorities, Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashood said on Monday.

The minister was inquiring after the health of schoolgirls still undergoing treatment at the Jhelum District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) after inhaling the toxic fumes of the anti-dengue spray, carried out by the principal of the Government High School for Girls, Domeli.

Of the 136 affected schoolgirls, at least 53 are still being treated at the Jhelum DHQ, while four are receiving care at the Domeli THQ.

Most of the girls complained of irregular breathing, stomach pains and dizziness, but doctors said that none of them is in any immediate danger.

57 girls still receiving care in Jhelum, Domeli hospitals

Mohammad Aamir, whose sister is currently undergoing treatment at the Domeli THQ, told Dawn that she had trouble breathing since the day of the incident, but expressed satisfaction with the level of care she was being given.

When asked why the girls were being kept in hospital for so long, Jhelum DHQ Medical Superintendent Dr Shaukat Mahmood said that most of the girls were traumatised.

He said he could not risk sending them home before their condition was “100 per cent stable” because the town of Domeli was about 47km from Jhelum, with few avenues of transport available to locals. When asked why ambulances were not being made available to ferry the girls between Domeli and Jhelum, he said that picking up patients from the small town was not always possible because of a shortage of ambulances in the district.

During his visit to the hospital, the provincial education minister said that all educational institutions would be provided the financial resources necessary to plug all gaps in anti-dengue measures, adding that the elimination of dengue was a priority for the government and no slackness in this regard would be tolerated.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2015

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