PESHAWAR: The adviser to chief minister on health, Ahtisham Ali, has ordered intensification of anti-dengue operation following reports of new cases from Lakki Marwat and Haripur districts.

Ahtisham Ali, who assumed charge of his office on Monday, emphasised that controlling the spread of dengue was one of his top priorities, a press release said.

He said that anti-dengue efforts should be expedited due to rainy season and elimination of stagnant water pools should be focussed to deny breeding sites to mosquitoes.

“The dengue season is on its peak and we must limit its spread through public cooperation,” he said. He mentioned that there were currently 18 active dengue cases in the province, with 119 individuals having recovered of the totally 137 cases confirmed across the province in the current year so far.

CM’s aide confirms 18 cases of the infectious disease in KP

Mr Ali lauded health department for containing outbreak of the disease, noting that no deaths were reported in the ongoing year due to dengue, nor was there a significant rise in cases as anticipated.

“This is a clear testament to the efficiency and proactive approach of the health department,” he said. He also gave special instructions to relevant officials to focus on curbing dengue outbreak in five key districts including Abbottabad and Peshawar.

He said that coordination with line departments proved effective in doing away with the virus due to which fewer cases were reported in the province as compared to last year.

Meanwhile, two more dengue cases surfaced in Lakki Marwat on Monday, taking the toll to five during the current month.

“The fresh cases were reported from Mohallah Kalukhel in Ahmadkhel and from Mohallah Sherkhel in Baistkhel,” said entomologist Mohammad Jameel Khan.

On emergence of fresh positive cases, the district health officer, Dr Abdul Gul, dispatched a team of experts to rural localities to carry out fumigation and insecticide spray inside the houses of affected people.

The official said that experts also conducted screening of the family members of the dengue victims and provided them with long lasting insecticide nets (LLINs).

In Haripur, members of public forum on Monday expressed their concerns over lack of anti-dengue spray in the city that increased the vulnerability of people to contract the viral disease.

The public forum, a body of social activists from diverse career backgrounds, met with its chairperson Khalid Jadoon in the chair. The participants took up different issues faced by the residents of Haripur.

They said that with the onset of dengue season, cases were being reported from different parts of the district, which necessitated anti-dengue fog spray.

The forum’s members also criticised civic authorities for not allocating space to genuine pushcart owners in the city, backlog of hundreds of driving licences owing to slow issuance and renewal process.

They also demanded payment of minimum wage of Rs35,000 each for industrial workers of Hattar. They alleged that industrialists were not paying their workers in line with provincial government’s directives.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2024