LAHORE: Due to the expertise and technical assistance provided by the Sri Lankan medical team, we have been able to evolve an effective strategy for provision of medical facilities to the dengue patients and ultimate elimination of dengue, said Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif while addressing a reception held in honour of the Sri Lankan medical team at the CM’s Secretariat on Sunday.Provincial ministers, MPAs, MNAs, representatives of civil society, intellectuals, doctors and experts attended the reception.
Head of the visiting Sri Lankan medical team, Dr Thissera Hasitha, while praising the provincial government’s efforts in combating dengue, said that the people of Punjab would soon be able to recover from the deadly epidemic. Reposing full confidence in the provincial leadership, he praised their nonstop labours in protecting the citizens against dengue, adding that the Sri Lankan team had learnt a lot from them in terms of hard work and dedication towards public welfare.
Meanwhile, the CM thanked the Sri Lankan medical team for their timely response and untiring help and support. Pakistani doctors, in collaboration with the Sri Lankan team, had been able to save numerous lives. “We are thankful to the Sri Lankan president, government and people of Sri Lanka for immediately sending a team of experts to Pakistan in this hour of trial,” he said, adding that he himself will pay a visit to Sri Lanka to thank the authorities for their help and support. He said that Sri Lanka had proved that “a friend in need is a friend indeed” by extending cooperation to us in this hour of trial, adding that the friendship and cooperation from both the sides would continue in the future as well.
The CM said that Sri Lanka had been facing dengue virus for the last three decades, therefore, Sri Lankan experts had more experience regarding overcoming this virus and their technical assistance and consultation have proved highly useful for us. He said that the Sri Lankan medical team provided guidance and consultation to the local experts, who then set up High Dependency Units in hospitals for patients with complications suffering from dengue fever, in addition to a surveillance system. He said that a roadmap was also evolved in consultation with the Sri Lankan medical team for meeting the challenge of dengue. He also informed that members of Sri Lankan team that were leaving the country would be replaced by other experts on September 28.
Dr Frendo and other members of Sri Lankan medical team, while expressing their views, said that their visit to Pakistan had been a memorable one. He said that the people associated with the medical sector in Pakistan were talented and had the ability to fully counter dengue and will definitely succeed in eradicating the menace. He said their services would always be available to Pakistani brethren whenever they were in need.Health Secretary Jahanzeb Khan, Agriculture Secretary Capt (R) Arif Nadeem, Dr Waseem Ahmad, Dr Javed Ghani and Dr Faisal Masood also appreciated the services of the Sri Lankan medical team. The CM then presented gifts and souvenirs to the Sri Lankan medical team.
Separately, the CM also paid a surprise visit to the Jinnah Hospital and went to the ICU wards and each dengue patient individually to inquire about the medical facilities being provided tot them.Talking on the occasion, he said that all-out resources were being utilised for provision of facilities to the patients in the hospitals and additional machines and staff had also been provided for this purpose. He said that medicines and machinery had also been imported. Meanwhile, he inspected the dengue counter and reviewed the facilities being provided there. – Dailytimes
