PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has constituted a committee under the chief secretary to ensure coordination among the government departments for controlling the spread of dengue fever, which has so far infected around 1,200 people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In view of the surge in dengue fever patients, the chief minister on Wednesday chaired a meeting to review the situation where he stressed the need for rigorous campaign to contain the virus in the province, a statement said.

On this occasion, he ordered formation of a coordination committee at the provincial level under chief secretary Dr Kazim Niaz. The committee has been tasked to define roles and responsibilities for the concerned departments and ensure close coordination to effectively monitor implementation of dengue action plan and furnish a report on weekly basis to his office.

Provincial government’s spokesman Kamran Khan Bangash, administrative secretaries, commissioner Peshawar and health officials attended the meeting.

It was noted that dengue situation was under control in the province, as 1,068 patients had recovered so far while 105 were presently being managed in hospitals.

Mahmood asks district administrations to fully implement dengue action plan

According the statement, a plan will be implemented in Peshawar, which is the most infected district with 253 cases, and shared with other districts for the prevention of dengue. It was stated that necessary medicines and supplies required for prevention of dengue had been provided to the districts.

The meeting was informed that under locum system, entomologists had been recruited in 20 districts while the process was on to hire 37 more for deployment in the most endemic districts.

The meeting was informed that dengue units with at least 10 beds had been set up in all the district and tehsil headquarters hospitals along with focal persons to ensure coordination among all the relevant government departments.

Free medical camps are also being set up in Peshawar and other high-risk districts to facilitate the suspected patients. Mosquito repellent sprays and fumigation campaigns are being carried out to eradicate dengue mosquitoes and larva, the statement said.

The meeting decided to formulate a media strategy to create awareness of dengue prevention and to run awareness campaigns on a daily basis.

The chief minister directed the district administrations to fully implement the dengue action plan to achieve the desired results. He stressed effective monitoring of the action plan and said the provincial government would provide required resources for its smooth sailing.

The chief minister also directed the commissioners and deputy commissioners to hold regular meetings regarding dengue prevention and ensure participation of the concerned members of the provincial assembly. He also directed to put in place an effective mechanism for coordination in this regard.

Health officials, meanwhile, said that Nowshera, Buner and Khyber had recorded 251, 198 and 137 cases, respectively. The infection is going to disappear as moister and humidity is receding in the atmosphere, but people in the hotbed areas should continue to take measures to stop breeding of mosquitoes, they said.

“We are reporting fewer cases this week, but in case of rain, we can witness spike in dengue incidence. Therefore, we are focusing on public awareness as well as fumigation in the infected areas,” the officials said.

Teams under the district administration are engaged in the communities to test the suspected patients and inform them about the causes of mosquito breeding, they said.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2021