NIH issues awareness and alert letter to health departments

ISLAMABAD: The National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad advised federal, provincial and district health facilities to monitor the anticipated seasonal public health threats and take all preventive measures in this regard.

In its 39th Seasonal Awareness and Alert Letter for epidemic-prone infectious diseases in Pakistan, the NIH aims to alert all health authorities and professionals about potential outbreaks and epidemics.

The letter stated that outbreak of various communicable diseases has a direct relationship with changes in temperature, said a press release.

In the letter, NIH suggests that the federal, provincial and district health departments as well as other stakeholders need to take pre-emptive measures against communicable diseases, including CCHF, Chikungunya, Dengue Fever, Gastroenteritis, Malaria as well as vaccine preventable diseases like Measles, Typhoid Fever, Viral Hepatitis and Poliomyelitis.

To facilitate all stakeholders, the requisite technical guidelines and awareness material along with the letter is available at the NIH website (www.nih.org.pk), the letter added.