EDITORIAL: Pink eye (conjunctivitis) cases have hit epidemic proportions in Punjab and Sindh. As per the Punjab provincial health department’s data, in the week ending on Tuesday more than 40,000 cases were reported. Overall number of reported cases in the month of September was 86,133, with no sign of the infection abating.
Averages of 13,000 new cases keep coming up every day. Notably, these figures reflect the number of patients who sought treatment in hospitals and various other health facilities for serious conditions like blurred vision and sensitivity to light. In most cases the affected persons buy eye drops suggested by GPs as well as local pharmacies or turn to home remedies such as washing of the eyes with rose water. The actual incidence of this highly contagious eye inflammation, therefore, is much higher and spreading fast.
In a belated move on Wednesday following a surge of pink eye amongst school-going children and their teachers, the interim Punjab government announced the closure of public and private schools all across the province for four days - two of them already closed holidays, one on account of Eid Milad-Un-Nabi and the other being a Sunday. The health department of Punjab government also issued a notification, directing public sector hospitals to grant leave to staff members, including doctors, nurses, and paramedics who had caught the infection.
These measures should help. The people also need to be made better aware of the necessary precautionary measures to avoid contracting the infection, which is transmitted, as explained by health experts, through direct or indirect contact with the liquid that drains from the eyes of infected persons. The advice they give is frequent washing of the hands, not touching eyes with hands, and using only clean towels. And that, if symptoms of pink eye begin those wearing contact lenses should stop putting them on.
This is not the first time that the pink eye disease has broken out in Punjab as well as some other areas. Yet nothing seems to have been learnt from the past experiences. A timely public awareness drive could have stalled its spread early on. Considering the present rate of infections, it may not be safe for the children to go back to school come Monday.
Sooner or later, though, it will pass. It is about time all provinces’ health departments had a special section assigned to foresee and stall epidemics, at present aside from conjunctivitis there is an unchecked prevalence of dengue and emerging threat of a new strain of coronavirus. Besides, various waterborne diseases posing a public health risk need to be given serious attention. This is imperative because the people deserve better and also because it can save a significant amount of expenditure and overcrowding in hospitals. It is a travesty of social justice that in this day and age people still die from curable diseases.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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