LAHORE: The Provincial Dengue Monitoring Committee (PDMC) on Wednesday decided to take action against dengue workers who committed negligence in their duty in the high-risk districts and issued instructions to the Health Department in this regard.
The decision was taken at a meeting held under the chairmanship of Provincial Health Minister Dr Akhtar Malik and Punjab Chief Secretary Abdullah Khan Sumbal. The Additional Chief Secretary (South Punjab), administrative secretaries of various departments and officers concerned attended the meeting while all divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners participated through video link.
On the occasion, Provincial Minister Dr Akhtar Malik said that the stakeholders should enhance coordination for removing discrepancies in the dengue data. He asked the officers to address the deficiencies identified in the monitoring, surveillance and reporting system. He also issued instructions to the administration in Lahore, Multan, Gujranwala and Sheikhupura to remain alert in view of the dengue situation.
Assigning the responsibilities to the special branch regarding monitoring of dengue and smog, Chief Secretary Abdullah Khan Sumbal said that the situation should be closely monitored for the next two weeks. He said that PITB must share data with the health department on a daily basis.
Health Secretary Dr. Irshad Ahmed gave a detailed briefing to the meeting. He said that the health department has ample stock of essential medicines and mosquito spray and more than 20 thousand dengue workers are performing field duties. He mentioned that 15,306 confirmed cases of dengue and 22 deaths have been reported in the province this year. Of these, 6519 cases have been reported in Lahore so far. He said that 912 cases have been registered and 418 people have been arrested for violation of SOPs during the last two weeks.
