LAHORE: A two-day international conference on ‘Dengue Prevention and Control’ concluded here on Friday where Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid said that the government was all set to makea comprehensive dengue strategy with the support of local and international experts. She said that Punjab brought together leading global experts to develop a strategy as dengue was a global pandemic that has hit all countries in this region.

“We have to devise tangible action plan and see how the disease has evolved over the last decade,” the minister said.

“We are working with the federal government and are developing a joint strategy with all stakeholders based on lessons learnt. The work on treatment and clinical management is underway and we have to find innovative approaches towards prevention.”

She said that it was great to see experts from virology, epidemiology, public health and researchers from all regions discussing and sharing experiences in the conference.

“We need thorough review of existing SOPs related to case detection, diagnosis, clinical managements, treatment, surveillance and social mobilization”, she said.

The conference will help us devise strategies that will be helpful for Pakistan as well as other countries of the region, the health minister said.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said that this was a sign of maturity in society that when a crisis was over, people created opportunities to reflect and devise the future course of action.

Punjab Chief Secretary retired Maj Azam Suleman said that dengue control required an inter-sectoral response and the existing SOPs must be continuously improved. He said all administrative departments must work in synergy.

Former health director general Punjab Dr Munir Ahmed, who won global acclaim for control of dengue as executive district officer of Lahore a decade back, also shared his experiences saying that training of staff on latest modules and accountability of staff was the key to better results.

Renowned international experts from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, Canada etc also participated in the conference besides representatives of the World Health Organization and other development agencies.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2020