KP, WHO join hands to fight against dengue
PESHAWAR, 7 November: The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday joined hands with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to contain dengue in the province.
The WHO would provide standard guidelines and capacity building in the planning and implementation of prevention and control measures. The main areas of focus are disease surveillance, vector control, case management and community awareness.
The outbreak has registered 107,866 suspected cases of which 23,719 cases tested positive for Dengue fever. The most affected district in KP is Peshawar. In Peshawar 99,589 suspected cases were registered as 3rd November 2017 of which 21,692 cases tested positive for Dengue fever.
This is not the first time Pakistan is facing Dengue outbreak. In 2011 more than 15,900 suspected cases were reported from Haripur and Abbottabad district in KP. In 2013 about 9038 confirmed cases were reported from the district of Swat. In 2015 the disease appeared at Lachi area of Kohat division where 270 people were affected by the virus.
The WHO has launche a campaign in 14 high endemic UCs of Peshawar, focusing on on community awareness, building on causes and prevention, and house to house identification and elimination of larvae.
Around 1500 government staff including Lady Health workers, environmental health workers and volunteers has been engaged in this campaign.
It should be noted that more than 190,000 households in various union councils of Peshawar have been sprayed with adulticiding (space spraying).
Larval breeding site identification and elimination were conducted in 90000 Households. During campaign people of Peshawar were very receptive to the idea of larva detection in their homes.
