Provincial Minister for Specialized Healthcare & Medical Education Kh. Salman Rafique has directed all the concerned government departments and institutions to start planning for dengue control in next season. He directed that gaps and weaknesses at micro level planning of dengue surveillance should be removed in the next plan. He appreciated the efforts of DCO Rawalpindi, all the government departments at district level and medical professionals of Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Holy Family Hospital and District Hospital Rawalpindi for overcoming the dengue epidemic and providing best healthcare facilities to the dengue patients in the hospitals.
He expressed these views while addressing the meeting of Cabinet Committee on Dengue at Civil Secretariat on Monday. Pir Ashraf Rasool MPA, DG Health Punjab Dr.Mukhtar Hussain Syed, senior officers of all the concerned departments including Specialized Healthcare & Medical Education, Primary & Secondary Health, Dean Institute of Public Health, Members of Dengue Experts Advisory Group, PITB, EDO Health Lahore, Meteorological Department, representatives of DHA and Special Branch were present in the meeting. The DCOs and EDOs of Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Multan, Jhelum, Attock and Sheikhupura participated in the meeting through video link. DCO Rawalpindi informed that only three dengue patients are under treatment in the Rawalpindi hospitals who belonged to Islamabad. He said that situation is fully under control. It was informed that patients are still being reported from different areas of Lahore especially from DHA, however, the number of patients are significantly very low as compared to the previous month. The meeting expressed satisfaction over the performance of different departments and steps taken for the control of dengue.