LAHORE: Punjab Specialized Healthcare & Medical Education Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique has said on Saturday that in order to control dengue, political commitment and community participation is inevitable. He was addressing dengue awareness seminar organised by the Cooperative Department in collaboration with the PCSIR Housing Society in their community centre.
The minister said that in Punjab dengue is under control because of strong political will and enthusiastic community participation.
Kh Salman Rafique said that we did not forget the lesson learned from dengue outbreak in 2011; since then we are struggling and taking concrete steps for effective dengue control under the leadership of chief minister, which was made the Punjab government able to overcome dengue issue with the cooperation of the community.
He said as compared to approximately 20 thousand confirmed dengue patients in 2011, only 90 dengue cases have so far been reported during the current year.
Salman Rafique said that Sri Lankan experts provided guidance and imparted training to our experts in 2011 and Punjab government evolved a robust system subsequently.
He said that with the collaboration of Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB), a modern IT system has been introduced through which the whole province has been geotagged and dengue situation of every district can be monitored from a station room in Lahore.
Cooperative Department secretary also addressed the seminar and said that his department is standing shoulder to shoulder with the chief minister and his team to overcome dengue. He was of the view that dengue is a community problem and everyone has to play their part to get rid of this problem.
He informed that focal persons in all the big cities have been appointed to coordinate in anti-dengue activities carried out by the cooperative housing societies.
Besides, Punjab Cooperative Department Secretary Muhammad Shehryar Sultan, Registrar Cooperative Department Mirza Mehmoodul Hassan, Specialized Healthcare Department consultant Dr Zahid Pervaiz, senior entomologist Dr Asif Mehmood, office bearers of various cooperative housing societies and a large number of residents attended the seminar.
Earlier, Dr Asif Mehmood and Dr Zahid Pervaiz apprised the participants in detail regarding the symptoms of dengue and preventive measures. They advised that community should keep their houses and surroundings clean. Later, a dengue awareness walk was also held to highlight the importance of the issue.
