Residents of the Tehkal area of Peshawar set up a protest camp and staged a demonstration against the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s failure to control the dengue virus, chanting ‘Go Imran Go’ and ‘Go Khattak Go’ slogans.
The protesters also chanted slogans against District Nazim Arbab Asim and complained that the dengue virus has become an epidemic as it has caused several deaths, while hundreds of others have been hospitalised in the province.
They said that district and health administration officials visit the area for photo op.
“District Nazim Arbab Asim cancelled his visit to the area fearing he may contract dengue fever,” commented a local resident.
The alleged negligence of the KP government to control dengue has apparently prompted Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to extend co-operation to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in handling the outbreak of the virus.
Shahbaz Sharif has directed his provincial health minister to approach the federal Health Department and co-operate with the KP government in overcoming the situation.
“The residents of KP are our own blood and kin. The Punjab government will extend full cooperation to KP government for fighting dengue. We must all take care of each other,” 
Shahbaz Sharif said on his Twitter account yesterday.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led provincial government has not responded yet whether it will receive the assistance offered by the Punjab government.
The KP government, particularly its health department, is already under fire for its sheer negligence and failure in taking prior measures to avoid outbreak of dengue virus.
The KP government came out of hibernation when in the last week of July 2017 dengue virus hit the Tehkal area of the provincial capital and hundreds of patients were hospitalised in Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) Peshawar.
According to the hospital administration, five patients brought to them with dengue virus had already expired while dozens others were still admitted in different hospitals of the province.
Initially, Tehkal in Peshawar was the worst affected locality where hundreds of people were diagnosed with dengue virus but long silence of the provincial government helped the virus to spread to other parts of the city.
Now besides Tehkal, patients from other areas such as Mohallah Gujran Charanda, Mohallah Daudzai, Tehkal Payan, Pishtakhara, in Peshawar were also taken to KTH and were diagnosed with dengue virus.


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