TAXILA: With mosquito breeding season at its peak, the administrations in Attock and Taxila are making arrangements to cope with the deadly dengue virus.

Amid an already challenging situation due to Covid-19 and increasing number of patients, the district administration along with the health department have accelerated efforts in searching for and removing dengue larvae from the district.

Dengue surveillance is being carried out in several parts of the district including Attock, Hazro and other tehsils.

Chairing a meeting to review anti-dengue arrangements at the deputy commissioner’s office, Additional Deputy Commissioner (revenue) Abdul Majid said: “All concerned officers are well aware about their responsibilities to combat dengue; surveillance activities for tracing of larvae and their eradication are underway so that the virus does not spread.

“A vigorous awareness campaign is essential for effective community participation to defeat dengue and Covid-19. Regular surveillance will be carried out to eliminate possible larva breeding sites.”

He emphasised on keeping surveillance teams mobilised and said that their performance should be checked regularly. He directed all concerned departments to keep a close liaison with each other to completely wipe out dengue, this year. “All treatment and diagnostic facilities related to the dengue virus are available at government hospitals across the district,” he said.

Furthermore, an anti-dengue drive is also being carried out in Taxila and Wah.

Assistant Commissioner Mohammad Faheem visited various localities, especially the ones where fatalities due to dengue were reported during previous years and monitored the performance of field staff, working in streets for indoor dengue surveillance.

During his visit to Model Town Taxila and Ward Number 2 in Wah Cantonment, he highlighted the need for effective utilisation of all available resources to monitor presence of dengue larvae, particularly in union councils, where dengue patients were reported last year and were declared “high risk areas”.

He said: “All resources are being utilised for eliminating dengue and concerned departments are fully mobilised for carrying out the task. To make better arrangements to prevent dengue, it is necessary for the public to cooperate with administration and field staff; citizens should keep their houses clean and remove stagnant water.”

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2020