LAHORE, Jan 18: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has granted approval to 1,818 posts of various categories from BS-1 to BS-19 for five major districts of the province primarily to fight a possible outbreak of dengue and other vector-borne and waterborne diseases.
Created under the Prevention and Control Programme of Epidemics, the new posts will be for Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Multan.
The decision to set up a separate 'health body' was taken in view of the poor performance of the officials of the health department and the Institute of Public Health as they failed to control the menace of dengue virus despite having huge resources and infrastructure and allocation of funds.
According to a handout issued here on Wednesday, health secretary Muhammad Jehanzeb Khan said that a post of additional director-general (vector-borne) would be included in the new vacancies which also included the posts of manager for its operations, partnership, enforcement and training wings, and entomologist, assistant entomologist, data entry operator, CDC supervisors, lady health workers, sanitary patrol, inspector environment and accountant.
Of the total posts, he said, approval had been given to 836 posts of different categories in Lahore district, 235 in Rawalpindi, 170 in Multan, 347 in Faisalabad and 198 inGujranwala.
Moreover, a district coordination unit would be set up in each of the five districts for which five posts of district programme coordinator, senior entomologist, senior statistical officer and computer operator had been sanctioned. He said instructions had been issued for initiating recruitment process to fill the abovementioned posts.
ADVICE SOUGHT: Post Graduate Medical Institute (PGMI) Principal Prof Dr Tariq Salahuddin has sought recommendations from institute's senior doctors to fight another possible outbreak of dengue.
He asked the heads of various departments of the institute to submit their recommendations on how to curb dengue virus in the light of their experiences within a week, says a handout issued on Wednesday.
Presiding over a meeting of admin officials and senior doctors of PGMI at Lahore General Hospital on Wednesday, Prof Salahuddin underlined the need to chalk out a plan to deal with the possible spread of dengue.
He said dengue patients should be provided diagnostic and treatment facilities under one roof instead of making arrangements at scattered departments.
The PGMI principal directed the hospital administration to expedite work on four more high dependency units for critical dengue patients.
He assigned duties to Prof Dr Shoaib Randhawa, Prof Dr Ghayyasun Nabi Tayyab, Prof Dr Jawad Zaheer and Prof Dr Agha Shabbir to impart training to doctors, nurses and paramedics.
He directed the LGH medical superintendent to ensure before the summer season that air-conditioners installed in all wards were functional.
He stressed upon the nursing staff to keep the data of every visiting patient updated and warned of departmental action in case of any negligence in this regard.
LGH MS Dr Muhammad Hasan, nursing school principal and nursing superintendent also attended the meeting.