HYDERABAD: Lawmakers of the the Muttahida Qaumi Movement–Pakistan (MQM-P) on Sunday expressed concern over the alarming spread of dengue fever in Hyderabad and the government’s failure to control the outbreak.
Speaking at a press conference at the Hyderabad Press Club, MQM-P MNA Waseem Hussain said the public health situation in Hyderabad had deteriorated severely due to dengue. A large portion of the city’s population had been infected with the mosquito-borne disease, he claimed, adding that many people had died of dengue, and several others were suffering from the disease.
He alleged that the actual number of dengue cases and deaths was being concealed by authorities. Hussain maintained that only around 300 cases were being officially shown, but the reality was far worse. Even nine confirmed deaths were later removed from the record on the pretext of a clerical error, he said.
The MQM-P MNA accused the Sindh health department and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government of hiding facts and mismanaging the crisis. The chief minister chose to remain silent while the city suffered, he said, adding that the mayor was busy in taking credit for everything without doing anything.
He demanded that the army chief and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) take notice of corruption in the local administration. The MQM-P would raise the issue of dengue spread in the National Assembly, Hussain said. He appealed to President Asif Ali Zardari to take notice of Hyderabad Mayor Kashif Shoro’s unsatisfactory performance.
Mayor Shoro had become part of a corrupt mafia and was only interested in photo sessions, he alleged. Another MQM-P MNA Abdul Aleem Khanzada said the dengue cases continued to rise unchecked. “Even today, two more people died of dengue; I attended their funerals this morning,” he said.
He lamented that after the destruction of the education sector in Hyderabad, the city’s health system had also begun to collapse. No fumigation or preventive spray was being carried out in the city, he said, urging the Sindh chief minister to take immediate action.
MPA Rashid Khan remarked that dengue outbreaks had become an annual occurrence in Hyderabad. In the past, fumigation was carried out every three to five days, but this year nothing had been done, he said.
He also criticised local representatives of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami, stating that they were nowhere to be seen. The MPA warned that the dengue virus might be mutating as in current conditions, even laboratories were not diagnosing it as dengue.
The health department was not investigating whether this was a new strain, he said, adding that the PPP’s tall claims about health care are being proved false. Hussain called for the federal government and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to launch emergency operations in Hyderabad to combat dengue. He said they were doing press conference not for politics but for saving lives.
It may be noted that after a meeting chaired by Hyderabad Deputy Commissioner Zainul Abideen a few days ago, officials initially confirmed nine dengue-related deaths in Hyderabad within 25 days, but later, in another press release, those deaths were denied.
Meanwhile, according a recent report by the Sindh Malaria Control Program, a total of 2,593,647 blood samples were screened across the province this year, with 230,928 confirmed malaria cases. The Hyderabad Division was the worst affected division with 107,389 cases, followed by the Larkana Division with 55,354 cases, Shaheed Benazirabad Division with 25,151 cases, Mirpurkhas Division with 21,336 cases, Sukkur Division with 18,466 cases, and Karachi Division with 3,232 cases.
