By Tahir Niaz
The Federal Ombudsman has directed the Ministry of Health Services, Regulation and Coordination, and CDA to present an action plan to eliminate large scale prevalence of dengue larva in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) limits.
As many as 173 new cases of dengue were reported in Rawalpindi and Islamabad during the last 24 hours on Friday. Islamabad has so far reported 1,177 dengue cases in 2022 as compared to 1,672 in 2019 and 337 in 2021. According to data released by the Rawalpindi health department on Friday, a total of 104 dengue patients were under-treatment at the allied hospitals. It said that a total of 3,519 people have fallen prey to the virus with three deaths so far this season in Rawalpindi.
On the other hand, 92 new dengue virus cases were reported in Islamabad, taking the total number of cases to 3,515 for this year. A total of seven dengue virus-infected patients lost their lives this year in Islamabad.
According to data issued by the Islamabad District Health Officer’s office, 38 new patients have been admitted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, seven to the Polyclinic, one to the CDA Hospital and 36 patients have been admitted to private hospitals and labs.
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According to the World Health Organization (WHO) data, from January to September, a total 25,932 confirmed cases of dengue virus have been reported in Pakistan with 62 deaths. According to the WHO, the highest number of dengue fever cases were reported in September which makes 74 percent of the total cases reported so far this season.
The WHO said that recent floods further caused the surge in dengue cases. The WHO has warned that the current flood crisis was affecting the capacity of Pakistan’s health system and there was a high risk of further deterioration of the dengue disease.
Chairman CDA has presented its Action Plan to meet this menace in Islamabad and the adjoining areas. CDA submitted that 1,177 cases of dengue including 910 in Islamabad have been reported so far and most affected areas are sector G-7, G-6 and G-11. It also stated that most of the dengue larva was found in the areas of G-6, G-7, F-6, F-7, I-9 and I-8 sectors.
The CDA also reported that 38 teams are working to identify hotspots, whereas, 12 vehicles with 72 spray machines are working day and night in the dengue eradication campaign.
The Federal Ombudsman directed the CDA to ensure dengue spray in each sector of ICT and adjoining areas on a weekly basis and submit a monthly report to WMS.
