A petition has been filed in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) seeking handing over of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department to Punjab and stopping its minister and secretary from work. Saifullah Mohib, a lawyer from Peshawar, has said in his petition that the Health Department and the provincial government have been failed to control the spread of dengue virus, therefore, their salaries should be suspended.
Meanwhile, two more persons, including a woman, died of dengue fever in Peshawar on Monday. Seven persons have died of dengue in KP so far, while hundreds other have been affected.
Meanwhile, KP Health Minister Shahram Khan Tarakai while addressing a press conference in Peshawar announced to include Ulema and youth in the efforts to control dengue and awareness campaign. He said several teams have been formed for the purpose and the disease will be controlled soon. The minister said 217 dengue patients have been admitted in different hospitals of Peshawar, while many patients have returned home after recovering from the disease. Meanwhile, an awareness campaign about dengue has been launched in the three tehsils of Khyber Agency.
The political administration said Mehsud Scouts in Bara sub-division launched a four-day awareness campaign about dengue on Monday. Lectures about symptoms of dengue and preventive measures will be delivered at awareness workshops today. Khyber Rifles had also arranged dengue awareness camps in Landi Kotal and Jamrud tehsils.
A report compiled by a team of the World Health Organization (WHO) has held shops of motorcycle mechanics and those related to wood work, responsible for outbreak of dengue in Peshawar. A team of the WHO examined water samples taken in 23 localities of Tehkal area which tested positive for dengue.
The report recommends use of mosquito repellants to counter the outbreak and avoid falling prey to the fatal disease. According to the WHO report, stagnant water at the shops caused the outbreak.
On the other hand, another 24 cases of dengue have been reported in Peshawar. Nine of the fresh cases were reported in Khyber Teaching Hospital, four in Combined Military Hospital (CMH), ten in Lady Reading Hospital and one in Naseeruddin Teaching Hospital. A total of 1,547 dengue cases have been reported so far (story filed on August 22) in Peshawar.