RAWALPINDI: The district administration on Thursday sealed 40 private clinics for not reporting dengue cases to the government.

Nine clinics were sealed in Potohar Town, 17 in cantonment areas, 11 in the city areas while three in Taxila. For the last three weeks, 129 clinics have been sealed for not reporting dengue patients.

According to officials, District Health Authority Rawalpindi and Murree have data about 1,051 clinics, hakeem, homeo and dental clinics. There are 668 consultants/physicians, 104 other consultants, 68 doctors, 104 homeo and 48 dental practitioners.

As per directives of the Punjab government, all clinics and health facilities will have to report dengue patients on a daily basis so preventive measures could be taken.

A senior official of the district administration told Dawn that it was mandatory for private clinics and hospitals to inform the government about the presence of dengue patients so the health authority teams will conduct anti-dengue spray in the area for prevention. He said that the district administration formed teams for spray and it had been asked to pay attention on areas from where dengue cases had reported.

Meanwhile, Punjab Minister for Primary and Secondary Healthcare Khawaja Imran Nazir and Minister for Specialised Education and Health Salman Rafique said members of the national and provincial assemblies would help the district administration create public awareness to control dengue virus.

They said that the members should nominate their focal persons in the high risk union councils of their constituencies. All organisations should increase dengue activity under integrated linkages and effective strategies. In a video link meeting, the ministers asked the departments to increase their efforts to avoid further spread of the dengue virus.

The ministers participated in the meeting through video link. MNAs Malik Abrar, Tahira Aurangzeb, Parliamentary Secretary Information and Culture Shazia Rizwan, MPAs Raja Saghir, Zebun Nisa, Asma Abbasi and Deputy Commissioner Dr Hassan Waqar Cheema were present in the meeting.

Addressing the meeting, the lawmakers said that Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif was very serious about the issue of dengue in Rawalpindi. She has directed ministers Khawaja Salman Rafiq and Khawaja Imran Nazir to look into the cases of dengue in Rawalpindi.

“A special awareness campaign should be started in every constituency to create awareness about dengue. People should get dengue test done in case of mild fever. In the first phase, focal persons should focus in high-risk areas with health department teams,” the deputy commissioner said.

Furthermore, the district administration will observe anti-dengue day in the district on Saturday (tomorrow) to create awareness among people and all government departments have been asked to arrange walks and distribute pamphlets to inform people how to avoid dengue virus.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2024