LAHORE: The city district administration has launched a mega drive to eradicate dengue, arresting as many as 98 people for flouting anti-dengue regulations.

According to Lahore’s officiating deputy commissioner Muhammad Asghar Joiya, teams headed by the assistant commissioners of City, Raiwind, Cantt, Shalimar and Model Town must ensure culling of dengue larvae at 8,383 points from Sept 20 to 24.

“FIRs were lodged against 534 people for flouting dengue regulations. Various premises were also sealed during outdoor surveillance by the teams,” said the DC.

Private hospitals told to report dengue cases as well

Meanwhile, city dengue teams got arrested two people for throwing waste on road near Thokar Niaz Beg.

Another team, led by the DC, got arrested manager of a tailor shop at Kasoori Road in Gulberg after it recovered dengue larvae from the rooftop of the premises.

DATA: Chief Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar on Wednesday asked the Punjab Healthcare Commission to ensure reporting of dengue cases at private hospitals and labs so that the government could have actual data of the menace and take quick remedial measures.

Presiding over a meeting at the Civil Secretariat to review the measures being taken to control dengue, he said guidelines about dengue should be implemented in letter and spirit as no negligence would be tolerated in this regard.

He said the swelling of the dengue patients’ number in Rawalpindi and Lahore was a matter of concern, and there was a need to handle the situation on war footings. He warned that action would be taken against negligent officers and officials.

He said a special cell set up by the chief minister was constantly watching efforts to control dengue, asking district administrations particularly of Lahore and Rawalpindi to report it such information without any fail.

He said surveillance teams should focus on quality and hiring of staff should be done if required. All required resources would be provided to combat dengue, he added.He ordered that availability of best healthcare and trained doctors and nurses be ensured for dengue patients in government hospitals and other health facilities.

Secretary Primary Health Capt retired Muhammad Usman told the meeting that as many as 2751 dengue cases had been confirmed in Punjab so far, adding that most of the cases were reported from Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, and Sargodha.

He said private hospitals and labs were not reporting about dengue cases which was aggravating the situation. He said that in view of the emergency in Rawalpindi, a 350-bed private hospital in Rawat had been activated to manage the patient load.

The meeting was attended by administrative secretaries of different departments, PITB Chairman, Lahore commissioner and deputy commissioner.

Deputy commissioners of other districts attended the meeting through video conferencing.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2019