Dengue Cases: Punjab Govt To Ban Half Sleeve Shirts In Parks, Public Places

Dengue cases: Punjab govt to ban half sleeve shirts in parks, public places

As part of measures to control dengue, the Punjab government on Thursday took important decisions including strict action against those continuously violating SOPs and ban on wearing half-sleeve shirts in parks and public places

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Sep, 2022 ) :As part of measures to control dengue, the Punjab government on Thursday took important decisions including strict action against those continuously violating SOPs and ban on wearing half-sleeve shirts in parks and public places.

The decisions were made at a meeting jointly presided over by Punjab Minister for Health Dr Akhtar Malik and Chief Secretary Punjab Abdullah Khan Sumbal, at Civil Secretariat.

The meeting reviewed the strategy to contain the spread of dengue, and discussed a proposal to impose heavy fines over larvae detection. The meeting also decided to launch a special campaign to increase public awareness, holding of seminars in educational institutes, display of banners at under-construction buildings and expediting community mobilization.

On the occasion, Primary and Secondary Healthcare (P&SH) Secretary Dr Irshad Ahmed gave a detailed briefing to the meeting.

The secretary said that the dengue expert team had visited high-risk districts including Rawalpindi and re-evaluated the micro plans, adding that this year, 5981 confirmed dengue cases and eight deaths had been reported.

"As many as 158 people have been arrested and 778 cases have been registered in different cities for violating dengue SOPs", he added.

Expressing concern over the increase in dengue cases in Gujranwala, Punjab Minister Akhtar Malik issued instructions to the commissioner and deputy commissioner to take immediate steps.

He said that all the commissioners and deputy commissioners should monitor the anti-dengue activities themselves.

He said that next 15 days were very important in terms of dengue control and added that the field teams of the Health department should intensify indoor and outdoor surveillance, besides submitting a report on fogging and larva culling at hotspots on a daily basis.

Chief Secretary Abdullah Sumbal directed the officers concerned to show no leniency over violation of dengue SOPs and speed up crackdown in high risk districts. He said that collective efforts must be continued to eradicate dengue.

The secretaries of the relevant departments and the health officials attended the meeting while all divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners participated through video link.