KARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday called for restructuring of Provincial Malaria Control Programme to strengthen it in the management and monitoring of dengue and malaria in Sindh and stressed the need for capacity building of medics for clinical management of dengue.
This he said during a briefing given at Bilawal House here on dengue in the aftermath of floods in Sindh. The briefing was attended by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, MNA Faryal Talpur, senior doctors and dengue experts from private and public sector as well as a team of dengue experts from Sri Lanka.
Briefing media persons, Spokesperson Farhatullah Babar said that the President directed that plans be drawn for a permanent solution to tackle dengue and other related diseases in the wake of floods and heavy rains as "we may have to learn to live with heavy rains and floods due to global climate change'.
It was informed that the Sindh government had already nominated provincial and district focal persons for dengue and set up a surveillance centre with a designated officer in every district of the province. Major private hospitals had also been integrated with the Provincial Dengue Cell for regular reporting of dengue cases.
The President was informed that the City District Government Karachi had started carrying out fumigation for malaria and dengue fever and instructions had been issued to district coordination officers for carrying out fumigation in their districts, Farhatullah Babar said.
The President also called for identifying 'hot spots' for dengue virus in the light of past experience and directed that special measures be taken to prevent dengue outbreak in those areas.
The President said that the community should also be educated through media campaign in the surveillance and management of dengue.
The President inquired about the availability of fogging machines in Karachi and whether adequate vehicles were available for the operation of machines.
When informed that Karachi had 32 fogging machines but only 21 vehicles, the President directed that additional vehicles be procured urgently so that all the fumigation machines could be used.
The President also thanked the Sri Lankan High Commissioner, who also attended the meeting, and medical team of Sri Lanka for their help.
President Zardari said that 'neem' tree was mosquito repellant and had several other medical and environmental advantages and asked the provincial government to grow more neem trees as a long term measure. He said that while we should take all precautionary measures there was no need to panic.
Farhatullah Babar said that the President also presided over a briefing session on drainage of stagnant rainwater in different parts of Sindh and called for stepping up efforts to drain out the flood water so that the uprooted people could go back to their villages and the land was available for next sowing season.
The President called for public-private partnership in devising a plan for this purpose and utilizing gravity system or pumping by connecting with the existing drainage system wherever feasible.
The President also directed that the discharge capacity of the existing drains be enhanced by removing obstructions with the help of heavy machinery available with different departments and may be pooled especially for this purpose.
The President further directed that the drainage of rain water be monitored on daily basis using satellite imageries and that these imageries be also sent to the President's Secretariat via e-mail.
Earlier the President spent some time in the Special Flood Control Room set up in Bilawal House and monitored the relief work in Khairpur and Benazirabad districts. He reviewed progress in provision of medicines, tents, mosquito repellants and other relief measures undertaken in these districts.
Farhatullah Babar said that the President directed the Chairman of National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) to issue within a week 'Pakistan Cards' to flood victims to streamline distribution of relief goods in a transparent manner so that it reached all affected people and to prevent its misuse and pilferage.
Members of the National assembly (MNAs) Nafeesa Shah in Khairpur and Azra Fazal Pechehu in Benazirabad along with members of provincial assemblies and district officials were present in respective control rooms of their districts to brief the President and answer questions.
Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah was also present in his control room in CM House during the monitoring exercise by the President from Bilawal House, he said.
Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011
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