Lack of coordination alleged - Collecting dengue-related data painfully slow

MN Report

KARACHI - Dengue control and prevention activities have been slowed down in the city reportedly due to lack of coordination between administration of public sector hospitals and provincial Dengue Prevention & Control Programme (DPCP).

According to sources, lack of coordination between Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and government hospitals has badly affected dengue control and prevention activities in the metropolis.
The regretted that although peak season of dengue viral had begun in August in the province and which was likely to continue till December, dengue control programme has not yet been geared up due to lack of cooperation between the heads of government hospitals and those being run by KMC.

Moreover, another reason behind failure of dengue control and prevention programme was the paucity of funds, they opined.

They alleged that a number of health facilities such as Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Lyari General Hospital and different Sindh government hospitals were not sharing data concerning dengue cases with the DPCP. Besides, some private hospitals were also avoiding sharing dengue-rerated data with the DPCP’s manager, they added.
They further claimed that although the management of DPCP had written letters to the heads of public and private health care facilities, requesting them to share the dengue-related data with it, all its efforts have, so far, gone in vain.

Even the management of KMC-run hospitals was reluctant in sharing the data pertaining to dengue cases with the DPCP administration, although Commissioner Karachi Shoaib Siddiqui had asked them to cooperate with the DPCP.

Sources opined that the number of dengue cases could be much higher as there is no proper system to record such cases.
When contacted, provincial programme manager of DPCP Dr Masood Ahmed Solangi, confirmed that heads of public sector hospitals as well those managing the affairs of KMC-run health facilities have been requested to share the dengue-related data with his organization and hoped that the situation would improve soon.
With regard to private hospitals, he said that though some of them are sharing the data with the DPCP, still certain private hospitals were not cooperating in this regard.