Karachi: Dengue viral fever is spreading in the megacity, Karachi, like a jungle fire but the matching response from the health department and other concerned agencies to check this deadly infection is still seen nowhere, said Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor on Friday.
Talking to a delegation, he said emergency departments of all government and private hospitals of the megacity, Karachi, are overcrowded presently, mostly with dengue patients. He said dengue is present in almost every street and every neighborhood of the city, and the clinics of general medical practitioners are also working overtime to cater the increased number of patients.
Altaf Shakoor said the government of Sindh should allocate at least 500 beds for dengue and other viral fever patients in the government, KMC and semi-government hospitals of the megacity and also request the private hospitals to allocate more beds for dengue patients with subsidized rates. He said all dengue fever related tests, and blood transfusion procedures, should be free of cost and a special dengue information desk should be set up in every hospital.
He said fumigation inside and outside houses, shops and structures should be carried out in each and every locality. In poor slums mosquito nets and repellent lotion should be distributed free of cost, besides setting up special mobile medical camps. He said besides government, philanthropists and social welfare organizations should also realize the gravity of situation and serve the needy citizens. He said the ongoing cleanliness drive in Karachi is limited to main roads and streets, but the inner narrow lanes in all localities are badly neglected. Goths and slums of Karachi still witness garbage hills and overflowing gutters. He said the government should also focus to these neglected areas on priority.
Altaf Shakoor said that sadly the concept of infection control is not even properly taught in our medical schools and hence most hospitals instead of controlling infections are spreading infections amongst citizens. He said strict infection control protocols of international level should be introduced and implemented in government hospitals to control diseases. He said a holistic approach is needed to fight dengue and other infections in Karachi for which our government should take a bold initiative.
He warned that dengue is not only a disease burden but also an economic burden, as treatment of dengue costs several thousands of rupees and in case of hospitalization this amount goes in Lakhs. He requested the government of Sindh, KMC, KWSB and other concerned authorities to take foolproof and very serious efforts on sustainable basis to fight dengue. He said every year dengue attacks and people and government press their panic buttons. He said instead of this fear and panic, we should introduce proper mechanisms to check the breeding of mosquitoes, houseflies and other insects so as to control all vector diseases including dengue.