PESHAWAR: Provincial Minister for Health Syed Qasim Ali Shah visited Bacha Khan International Airport on Tuesday and inspected screening process of passengers arriving from different countries for mpox.

The minister said that there had been no reported cases of Clade-I strain of mpox so far, which was more dangerous. Clade-II strain of mpox did not pose threats to lives, said a statement.

It said that MNA Arbab Sher Ali and Director Public Health Dr Irshad Roghani accompanied the minister, who was briefed by Dr Fareezud Din, head of border health services at airport and said that they hadn’t found suspected patients so far.

The minister inspected the screening procedure. He was informed about further steps to strengthen surveillance at borders and airports in response to detection of the disease in a 34-year-old resident of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Emphasising the importance of precautionary measures, he said it was better to be proactive in preventing spread of the disease rather than responding to an outbreak. “We are focusing heavily on screening to prevent the potential spread of mpox,” he said.

“Passengers arriving from border points and airports are urged to cooperate with the screening staff. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cannot afford another pandemic like Covid-19 and the department is fully alive to the situation,” said the minister.

Health department has issued special instructions to medical teaching institutions to immediately isolate suspected mpox patients seen in OPD and refer them to isolation wards already established there.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2024