RAWALPINDI: Arrival of 75 dengue patients at the Holy Family and Benazir Bhutto hospitals forced the Punjab government to cancel Eid holidays of all city district government employees.

They have been directed to continue the anti-dengue campaigns in the city during the Eid holidays too.

The direction was conveyed to the local administration at a meeting presided over by Punjab Minister for Labour and Manpower Raja Ashfaq Sarwar here on Saturday.

Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique, Commissioner Rawalpindi Zahid Saeed, MNA Malik Ibrar, MPAs Raja Hanif and Fouzia Satti, PML-N leaders Sardar Nasim and officials of the health, environment and education departments were also present.

The meeting was informed that the union councils of Gawalmandi, Mohanpura, Ratta Amral and Khayaban-i-Sir Syed had been declared high-risk localities.

The meeting was also informed that over 101 dengue patients had arrived at the HFH and the BBH but the DHQ Hospital had not received any patient.

It may be mentioned that the dengue ward at the DHQ Hospital is not maintained to provide treatment to the dengue patients despite the fact that it is located near Gawalmandi and Mohanpura, the two high-risk areas.  

Punjab govt cancels Eid holidays of all CDGR employees

Minister Ashfaq Sarwar told the meeting that concerns about dengue cases in Rawalpindi had increased in the last two weeks.

He said all government departments should speed up their efforts to tackle the issue.

He said special attention should be paid during the Eid holidays because the number of dengue patients had increased in the city after Eid holidays last year.

Keeping in view the concerns, he added, holidays of the officials had been cancelled.

The chief minister’s adviser said all standard operating procedures should be followed in the high-risk union councils to check the spread of the virus. He said all houses and business establishments should be properly inspected for dengue larvae on daily basis.

He said as mercury fell at night, indoor dengue larvae surveillance should be carried out by citizens. 

He expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of Pakistan Railways in coordinating with government departments in anti-dengue campaigns. He said efforts would not be effective if the campaigns were missed in the railway colonies.

Commissioner Rawalpindi Zahid Saeed said all government departments were working on a war-footing to tackle dengue, adding that more attention should be paid on making anti-dengue drives result-oriented.

Meanwhile, Salman Rafique visited the Holy Family Hospital to inquire after the health of dengue patients.

He directed the hospital administration to provide proper medical facilities to them.

Published in Dawn, October 5th , 2014