LAHORE, March 18: Punjab Minister for Health Dr Tahir Ali Javed denied on Thursday there had been an outbreak of malaria in the province. The Malaria Control Programme (MCP) had been working effectively , he told a meeting of his department here.

The minister said the MCP was among the six priority health programmes identified by the Pakistan government in the country. The federal government had allocated considerable resources for the implementation of its Roll Back Malaria (RBM) programme in the country.

The Punjab government was also spending Rs94 million to control malaria in the province. Dr Javed informed the meeting that Federal Minister for Health Naseer Khan told him that there had been no report of malaria outbreak in the country. He, however, directed the health officials to remain vigilant.

The minister said his department was now emphasizing to build districts' capacity, develop inter-sectoral collaboration and public-private partnership besides strengthening the behaviour change communication.