LAHORE: Chief Secretary Punjab Yousaf Naseem Khokhar on Monday said that concerted efforts were needed to eradicate dengue once and for all, ARY News reported.
Presiding over a video-link meeting regarding dengue control at the Civil Secretariat, Yousaf Naseem Khokhar directed that monitoring, surveillance and reporting of dengue-related activities must be improved, besides starting larviciding in vulnerable areas.
Speaking at the meeting, the chief secretary said that keeping in view uncertain weather conditions anti-dengue activities must be expedited throughout Punjab.
He ordered that availability of healthcare facilities and trained doctors and nurses be ensured for dengue patients in district and tehsil headquarter hospitals, adding that trained staff should not be transferred.
He directed the divisional commissioners that weekly meetings at district and tehsil level should be held to review anti-dengue activities and a report should be submitted regularly in this regard.
Asserting that it is high time to act against dengue, the chief secretary asked the secretary primary health to evolve a comprehensive plan to get rid of deadly diseases of dengue and polio.
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He said that human development was ignored in the past but now there was a need to work on social sector uplift. “Surveillance teams should carry out ‘qualitative work’ as quality is more important than quantity,” he said adding that hiring of staff should be done, if required.
Dr Faisal Masood told the meeting that 22 dengue cases had been confirmed since January this year. He maintained that dengue-related training had been imparted to 1215 doctors and nurses during the current year, whereas 21,323 medics had been trained during the period from 2011 to 2019. He said that dengue can be prevented by adopting precautionary measures.
The meeting was attended by secretaries of health departments, Commissioner Lahore Division, the director general health services and officers concerned while commissioners of Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Sargodha and Bahawalpur joined the meeting through video link.
