KARACHI: Representatives of the World Health Organisation (WHO) attending a meeting presided over by Health Secretary Aftab Khatri here on Tuesday were informed that all but one of the total 157 dengue cases reported this year from various parts of Sindh province belonged to Karachi.

The meeting noted that among the 156 patients affected by the virus there were 84 males and 73 females. The only dengue patient from outside Karachi belonged to Hyderabad, it was informed.

The meeting was also told that the areas most affected by the dengue virus in Karachi appeared to be North Nazimabad, Lyari, Clifton, Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Malir.

The WHO representatives were informed that the dengue surveillance cells at the civil hospitals of Karachi and Hyderabad had been functioning round-the-clock while district focal persons had been monitoring the situation by collecting reports from government hospitals across the province. They had been told to ensure arrangements for dengue treatment in their respective areas, it was stated.

Senior health officials, including Special Health Secretary Dr Suresh Kumar, the provincial director-general of health and medical superintendents of various government hospitals, informed the meeting that it had been made mandatory for private hospitals to report any dengue case admitted and treated at these facilities to the local dengue surveillance cell.

The meeting noted that the provincial government had decided to raise dengue awareness in collaboration with the local government department by holding relevant programmes in schools and colleges, distributing pamphlets and using the electronic media as part of a mass awareness campaign to educate people about methods for its prevention and treatment. It was told that a cell has also been set up in the office of Karachi commissioner.—PPI