PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur has directed the authorities concerned to urgently prepare and implement Dengue Action Plan 2025 to effectively control the expected outbreak of the vector-borne disease during the upcoming season.

The chief minister’s secretariat has written a letter to the chief secretary in this regard, emphasising that dengue fever had posed severe public health challenges over the last several years, and its effective control required proactive efforts by all departments, according to a statement issued here on Monday.

It further said that previous experiences had shown that when structured and coordinated efforts were made during the dormant season, there was a marked reduction in the number of dengue cases in the peak season.

“Building on this, it’s imperative to immediately develop and execute synchronised activities to ensure all necessary preventive measures are in place before the peak dengue season.”

“Dengue Action Plan 2025 should include a detailed schedule of activities for all the relevant departments, outlining preventive, promotional, and curative measures,” the letter reads and adds that a month-wise framework for the entire year should be developed to ensure that all anti-dengue activities, such as surveillance, vector control, environmental management, awareness campaigns, procurement and healthcare responses, are systematically executed.

It has further been directed in the letter that the role for each department should be clearly outlined in the action plan so that it contributes effectively throughout the year.

“A comprehensive monitoring and reporting mechanism should be put in place to meet the set objectives.”

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2025