Two girls have lost their lives to dengue in Peshawar, increasing fear and worry among the public in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
The family members of the two girls belonged to Bahadur Killi area of Peshawar. The girls have been identified as 17-year-old Nabeela and 13-year-old Ramsha.
Both girls were laid to rest in their village graveyard. The parents revealed that they were taken to a hospital soon after getting high fever. They were subsequently diagnosed with dengue fever, but died due to its severity.
The Health Department officials rejected the claim that the girls were suffering from dengue fever. They said that the death of the girls was not due to dengue fever and added that the girls were ill but "every fever is not dengue fever."
Contrary to KP’s health department's reluctance to admit the occurrence of the disease, it has been found that the dengue virus is spreading in KP as the number of infected have reached 3,000.
Most cases surfaced in Peshawar. The provincial government has faced criticism for not taking appropriate measures to control the spread of the disease in every season.
In several districts of KP, there are no separate wards for treatment of dengue patients in the main hospitals, due to which the patients had to come to Peshawar for treatment.
Chief Minister Mehmood Khan directed KP Health Department officials to take immediate action to eliminate dengue.
The situation is more alarming in KP and the provincial government needs to take emergency steps instead of rejecting claims of patients who suffer due to insufficient healthcare facilities.
Health officials informed the chief minister that special cells have been set up in government hospitals for the diagnosis of dengue virus in patients.
Recently, a two-judge bench of Peshawar High Court (PHC) instructed the KP government to arrange special dengue wards in all hospitals in Peshawar.
The court also summoned director general Health and additional deputy commissioner of Peshawar to appear before the court and explain what efforts were being made to counter the spread of dengue virus in province.
The DG claimed that no casualty had been reported due to dengue fever in the province due to timely measures of the KP government.
The court-appointed the additional deputy commissioner as the focal person for dengue cases in Peshawar.
The additional deputy commissioner was also directed to submit a detailed report about dengue cases and the government’s measures for patients and control of the disease in KP.
The casualties happened just two days from the hearing about dengue cases. The cases show that the provincial health department is failing to control dengue fever in KP.