Chief Secretary Punjab Cap. Zahid Saeed has said that September is very critical month for dengue breeding and all the departments should strictly follow the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to control dengue. He said that no gaps should be left unattended at provincial or district level to check the dengue. He further said that affective measures taken at this stage would benefit during whole dengue season to overcome the disease. He stated this while addressing a meeting of Cabinet Committee on dengue at the Committee Room of Civil Secretariat today. Punjab Minister for Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Kh. Salman Rafiq chaired the meeting. Besides, Provincial Minister Primary and Secondary Health, Kh. Imran Nazir, Special Secretary Specialized Healthcare Dr. Sajid Mahmood Chuhan, Special Secretary, Primary Health Dr. Faisal Zahoor, Madam Lubna Faisal MPA, Secretaries, Additional Secretaries and senior officials of all the concerned departments, Public Health Experts, Representatives of PITB and other institutions attended the meeting, while the Deputy Commissioners and CEOs Health of other districts participated in the meeting through video link. Additional Director General Dengue Control Dr. Farrukh Sultan briefed the meeting regarding the latest dengue situation in Punjab. He informed that vigorous indoor and outdoor dengue surveillance in all the dengue affected districts is continued by the departments. He disclosed that the main source of dengue larva reporting is the discarded room coolers which were used in summer season. He said that these room coolers and water containers have become the hotspots of dengue larva breeding due to the accumulated water which is still not drained by the residents. Dr. Farrukh Sultan said that despite regular awareness campaigns through media and by the visiting surveillance teams the response of housekeepers is very slow and in several cases they do not comply with the instructions of the team. He informed that during the current year, so far 116 confirmed dengue patients have been reported in Punjab, out of them 89 belonged to Punjab, 20 from other provinces and seven from Islamabad. He further informed that 25 patients were reported from Lahore, 12 in Rawalpindi, 10 in Gujranwala and six from Faisalabad. Kh. Imran Nazir, while addressing the meeting said that elected Vice Chairmen from Rawalpindi Cantonment and Mayor Rawalpindi is also be taken on board for maximum community participation in anti dengue activities. Chief Secretary directed the Deputy Commissioners to monitor the performance of government departments for dengue control activities and important issues must be brought into the knowledge of provincial authorities. He said that district administrations and the officers of the concerned departments have to bear this responsibility. Cap. Zahid Saeed directed that a responsible person from Health Department Rawalpindi should visit the hospitals of Islamabad on daily basis to collect the data of dengue patients admitted there. He said that complete and correct data is essential for future planning. Chief Secretary directed that special team from Lahore should be sent to such districts for third party validation from where dengue larva is still not reported. Minister Primary and Secondary Health Kh. Imran Nazir directed the School Education Department to give dengue hotspots check list to the children as a home work and their parents should fill that Performa regarding the removal of dengue hotspots. Minister Specialized Healthcare Kh. Salman Rafiq disclosed that he will personally visit Gujranwala and Rawalpindi along with technical experts in next week to monitor the situation. Kh. Salman further said that he will also hold meeting with the authorities of federal capital Islamabad for joint efforts to control dengue virus.
