Dearth of Dengue spray

Federal government has rejected the request of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa government to grant No Objection Certificate for the import of ant-Dengue mosquito spray from India as trade relations with the neighbouring remains suspended and are not likely to be restored in the near future. The supply of this spray to health department and TMA has not been made for the last two months.

The onslaught of Dengue mosquito and its breeding season starts from last week of the current month. The scarcity of anti-Dengue chemical will impact the planned campaign for the eradication of this recurring menace. Dengue outbreak takes endemic form every year and claims a number of lives across the province. The provincial government knew that trade relations with India have been suspended from August last year. It is sheer criminal neglect that neither alternate source of the required insecticide was explored nor paper work was done for importing the Indian brand from a third country. The officials responsible for this delay must be taken to task. Last year a Chinese brand of insecticide was available for anti-Dengue spray at Medicos Chemist Druggist Shop in Peshawar Cantonment, which people used to buy for doing spray inside their houses. Had the concerned department high-ups really serious about Dengue control the chemical could have been easily imported from China well before the pandemic coronavirus outbreak.