An anti-dengue day will be observed throughout the province on February 24 on the instructions of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, to educate people about precautionary measures to prevent a dengue outbreak.
Chief Minister’s Special Assistant on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique, speaking at a meeting on Thursday to review preparations for the campaign, directed the departments concerned to start larvae surveillance and larvaeciding according to standard operating procedures (SOP) developed the previous year.
Chief Minister’s Dengue Research Cell Head Dr Wasim Akram said that dengue larvae had not started breeding due to the cold.
However, he said, following the recent rainfall the weather was likely to get warmer and the breeding season for dengue mosquitoes will begin shortly.
Presiding over a meeting on Friday, District Coordination Officer (DCO) Noorul Amin Mengal said negligence in dengue surveillance will not be tolerated.
Special teams have been constituted in all nine towns. They will visit vulnerable areas in their localities and monitor arrangements made to prevent and combat the disease.
All graveyards in the city had been cleaned and water pots next to graves would be removed by Sunday. “I will pay surprise visits to all graveyards in the city to check anti-dengue arrangements,” Mengal said.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 23rd, 2013.