RAWALPINDI: Under a new strategy to prevent the spread of the dengue virus in the city, the local administration on Wednesday declared 22 union councils (UC) ‘sensitive’, and has decided to focus their efforts on these UCs for the next week.

The decision was made after a meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, where he reprimanded the local administration for its failure to control the spread of the virus.

The chief minister asked the Punjab Chief Secretary Khizar Hayat Gondal to supervise the city’s anti-dengue campaign, besides constituting a committee which would investigate negligence and fix the responsibility.

Local admin to involve local communities in anti-dengue awareness campaign

During a meeting at the commissoner’s office chaired by the Chief Secretary, the local administration unveiled the new plan. Under the strategy, all the departments concerned will focus on 22 UCs, including 15 of Rawal Town, four of Potohar Town and three wards of the cantonment board.

Local administration officials said that most cases were coming from Rawal Town and Potohar Town UCs; 18 patients arrived from Chak Jalaldin, 14 from Dhoke Munshi, nine from Rehmatabad and 37 from Chaklala.

In addition, schoolteachers will be asked to raise awareness of the disease among the residents of the sensitive UCs.

“Two teachers will visit every mosque in the union councils daily, to raise awareness among the people, and literature on safety measures will be distributed amongst students so that they can inform their families,” District Coordination Officer (DCO) Sajid Zafar Dall said.

Secretary Gondal called the anti-dengue campaign a ‘national cause’ and said that, “All the departments should speed up the work and involve the local communities in this drive. We cannot achieve the results without the cooperation of the citizens.”

He called on the relevant departments to present a daily report on anti-dengue measures, and said that he – and all the secretaries – will remain in Rawalpindi until the desired results have been achieved.

Mr Gondal said that the provincial government had provided the departments with all necessary resources, and that negligence would not be tolerated. He said the awareness campaign on preventive measures should also be expedited.

Gondal visited the Jhanda Chichi Government Girls High School near Civil Lines, and directed that the school building be expanded in order to accommodate students, since the present number of classrooms was inadequate.

He also visited the Holy Family Hospital (HFH) dengue ward and called for provision of improved medical care to dengue patients.

Published in Dawn October 1st, 2015

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