Auqaf Department Urged to Spread Awareness Through Friday Sermons

Rawalpindi: Secretary Auqaf & Religious Affairs Tahir Raza Bukhari, while presiding over the anti-dengue meeting along with Additional Commissioner Coordination Syed Nazarat Ali, said that despite the end of October, the temperature has not decreased significantly. Due to which the environment is very favorable for dengue breeding. So we have to carry out anti-dengue activities with the same enthusiasm. He said that DEN 2 dengue virus has been detected in Rawalpindi this time and most of the patients are those who have been infected with dengue before. Self-medication and late reporting to the hospital are the major causes of critical dengue cases as late reporting is the only cause of death in this variant. He directed the Auqaf Department to repeatedly emphasize in the mosques and especially in the Friday sermon that fever should be reported to the hospital immediately instead of neglecting it. Apart from this, the scholars emphasized the importance of cleanliness in their teachings to eliminate larval breeding spots through clean environment.
In this review meeting held at Commissioner Office Rawalpindi, Director General Rawalpindi Development Authority Kinza Murtaza, Additional Deputy Commissioner Headquarters Dr. Zunira, CEO Health Dr. Asif Arbab, MS Holy Family, BBH and all divisional heads and health department officials were present.
On this occasion, in the briefing by the Health Department, it was informed that 108 confirmed patients have been reported in Rawalpindi district during the last twenty-four hours, after which the number of confirmed patients has reached 3840 so far this year. Out of them 3482 have been discharged after successful treatment while 341 are under treatment in different hospitals. Currently, various hospitals have a capacity of 600 beds for dengue patients, while the ramp-up plan can take it up to 1000 beds. The briefing further apprised that 9323330 houses were checked during the indoor vector surveillance from January 1st, 2024 till now, out of which 69452 houses turned out to be positive. Similarly, during outdoor vector surveillance, 2588649 spots were checked and 12660 spots turned out to be positive where necessary action was taken. Violators of dengue SOPs pose a danger not only to themselves but also to the people around them. 4,822 FIRs, 3,129 challans and 1,787 buildings were sealed in Rawalpindi district from January 1, 2024, to the repeated violators, while a fine of Rs. 02 crore 07 lakh was also imposed.
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