ISLAMABAD: State Minister for Interior Shehryar Afridi on Wednesday informed the National Assembly that about 35 cases of dengue fever have been reported in Islamabad till date.
The minister said this, while responding to a calling attention notice regarding outbreak of dengue fever in Islamabad Capital Territory.
He said that during last year about 103 cases of dengue fever were reported in the federal capital. The minister said that peak time of the dengue fever in the country is from October to mid of November.
Afridi said that after the mid of November, the dengue fever start declining. “We have taken effective precautionary measures and ministry of health had been directed to stay vigilant to handle the dengue fever,” he added. He said that during the last many years, step taken by the federal, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments to control the dengue fever are appreciable.
The minister urged parliamentarians to take issues seriously and highlight it in their respective areas. “I assured the people, we are vigilant and committed to deliver,” he added.
He said the government had also arranged spray in various areas of the federal capital with the objective to secure the areas. He said that awareness campaign among the masses had also been launched. “I and my team are also monitoring the situation,” he added.
He said that special space had been reserved in federal government hospital for the patients.
Dengue is an endemic in Pakistan which usually starts in post monsoon period. According to a research journal of Dow University of Health Sciences Karachi, more than 30,000 cases of dengue have been reported in Pakistan since the first case was reported in 1985.
