RAWALPINDI: The arrival of three dengue patients, two from the city and one from Attock, to the Holy Family Hospital (HFH) in April prompted the provincial government to ask all the civic departments to launch fogging in the affected areas, to prevent the spread of the virus.

Aftab Ahmed, 21, is the resident of Satellite Town’s F-Block and Agha Ajeet, 22, came from Muslim Town while Babar Khan, 31, belongs to Attock and was working with an oil marketing company in Balochistan.

The patients were shifted to an isolation ward, and the hospital has begun treatment. “The dengue serology from the pathological laboratory declared them to be dengue patients, however they are in stable condition,” a senior doctor at the hospital said.

He said dengue patients usually start coming to the hospital in the last week of August, saying it was rare for the dengue virus to spread in the city so early.

The Punjab government has sent the Punjab chief secretary Zahid Saeed to review preventive arrangements.

The City District Government Rawalpindi (CDGR) and other departments claimed that for the last one year they had been working on raising awareness about protection from the virus and indoor surveillance in all 46 union councils in the city, and 16 UCs in urban areas and cantonment areas.

However, the drive has not seen any results, and many have raised questions about the money being spent on anti-dengue measures.

“Rs10 million is spent only on petrol and diesel to spray anti-dengue medicines, and the movement of anti-dengue staff from one area to another within the district, during the current fiscal year,” a senior local administration official told Dawn.

Mr Saeed, meanwhile, reviewed anti-dengue measures at the commissioner’s office on Thursday, and called on provincial government departments to keep an eye on mosquito breeding spots.

The Rawalpindi commissioner, local government and rural development secretary and other officials attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2016