Khyber Pukhtunkhwa government has issued instructions to the Districts Health Officers and Medical Superintendents of nine districts to make arrangements for treatment of people who may suffer from seasonal diseases in the aftermath of pre-monsoon rains. The summer season is also heading towards climax and like the previous years Dengue mosquito may spread Dengue fever. Lashmania fever has not been brought under control with preventive measures of eliminating Sand-fly by spraying the effective insecticides and educating the people how to remain safe from its bite.
The number of Lashmania patients in North Waziristan is on the rise and the government has decided to establish Lashmania Treatment Center at District Hospital Bannu with the financial assistance of World Health Organisation (WHO). Cases of this fever have also been reported from the settled districts of Tank, Lakki and Karak. In April this year, this world organisation had provided 1100 vials of injections on emergency basis for the treatment of patients suffering from Lashmania. In these columns the provision of preventive cover was agitated a number of times since January but in vain. The Town Municipal Administrations and Public Health Engineering Department should have been lined up to take measures on the preventive side. It was necessary then that effective insecticide spray should have been done extensively not only in the affected districts of the province but the adjoining ones also.
It was also emphasised that the federal government should be approached to direct the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan to register the medicines in tablet and injection form for the treatment of Lashmania fever instead of looking up to WHO for donation of the required injections. Even the names of the injection Amphotercin and tablets Miltefocine were specifically mentioned for registration and import on emergency basis. These medicines have given wonderful results in the neighbouring country India. But unfortunately, Health Minister Dr. Hisam Inamullah is more focused on keeping his horns locked with Doctors Associations and cannot spare time to take tangible measures for streamlining the registration process of these medicines. Both curative and preventive dimensions of Lashmania and Dengue fevers need to be priortised.
