Dengue and malaria in full boom

By Naseem Sheikh

Stagnant rainwater gathered in puddles are sure breeding grounds for dengue and malaria-carrying mosquitoes, more breeding grounds are expected to be created by more flood water, triggering the birth of more mosquitoes. Thousands of cases of gastro and dengue fever were reported in various cities of Pakistan including Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi, however, the provincial government allocated little budget for prevention and control of the said infections.

More than 374 patients from both private and public hospitals have been confirmed dengue fever positive in the Punjab including 273 in provincial metropolis and 101 from other cities during the last seven-and-a-half months till August 21, according to Communicable Disease Control (CDC) Cell of the Health Department.
Manager, Provincial Malaria Control Programme, Dr Naheed Jamali said that six thousand cases of malaria had been reported in the ongoing year, which she considered normal. President Infection Control Society, Director Dow Laboratories and Assistant Professor Dow University of Health Sciences, Dr Rafique Khanani says the chances of malaria and dengue spreading in the rain-hit areas of Sindh have drastically increased due to the accumulated rainwater in the flooded areas. Whereas the allocated budget for the Provincial Malaria Control Programme for the calendar year 2011-12 was yet to be released.
Africa, Asia, and Central and South America are the areas with high numbers of malarial and dengue infections. To reduce the chance of getting malaria, experts suggested to people should avoid malaria and dengue-endemic areas of the world, use mosquito repellents, cover exposed skin, and use mosquito netting covered areas when sleeping.
Despite decades of efforts to beat mosquitoes with insecticides, indoor spraying, bed nets and combination drugs, malaria still kills nearly 800,000 people a year, most of them babies and young children in sub-Saharan Africa.
A study from Africa and South America which have suggested resistance to common insecticides is on the rise, and said this could have serious implications for malaria control strategies, particularly since there are few alternative insecticides that are effective, cheap and safe for humans.
By 2010 the proportion of mosquitoes resistant to Delta methrin, the chemical recommended by the World Health Organization for bed nets, was 37%. In the last four months of the study the researchers found that the incidence of malaria attacks returned to high levels. Among older children and adults the rate was even higher than before the introduction of the nets.
Climate change, which continued to endanger health and food safety were among major health issues that needs to be given more attention. Experts say that Pakistan needs to invest a lot on research on most effective measures to protect health from climate change particularly in vulnerable populations such as women, children and elderly in the country.
In January 2011, President Paul Biya announced that malaria treatment would be free for all children under five. And now Cameroonian Prime Minister Philemon Yang on Saturday 20 August launched an anti-malaria campaign, promising to distribute nine million free mosquito nets. But in Pakistan no such positive steps have seen in such unhealthy conditions. Health experts from Pakistan suggest that the provincial health department particularly in Punjab should allocate a separate additional budget well in time for prevention and control of dengue fever in 2011, now when dengue is on full boom, misfortunately.
The 12th International Training Course on Dengue, 8- 19 August, which for the first time was attended by more than 200 experts from Cuba and another 27 countries, also included the third International Convention on Latin American Laboratories and Collaborating Centers for Dengue (RELDA), where the structure and work guidelines of the organization for the next term were discussed.
The 12th International Training Course on Dengue concluded in Havana with the participation of Cuban and foreign specialists. The creation of a multinational dengue monitoring and control program is one of the main achievements of the 12th International Training Course on Dengue.
In addition, the participants paid tribute to Professor Gustavo Kouri —who passed away recently— for his contribution to the struggle against dengue. Kouri was an insigne scientist, researcher and director, who had taken part in the eleventh previous courses.
Naseemsheikh@yahoo.com

The writer is a regular contributor to pkarticleshub.com