Bureaucratic failure drives Karachi into dengue disaster | The Express Tribune

SINDH/
KARACHI:

Karachi, as well as the rest of Sindh, has been plagued by dengue and malaria season, which descends every year post-monsoon season, and yet minimal action has been taken to combat this. For the past several years, no spraying has been carried out in Karachi. Only 18 employees are assigned for spraying the city.

Medical experts routinely warn that it is essential to carry out germicidal spraying after a rain spell. These experts also state that during the monsoon, along with mosquitoes, flies and other insect-allergens. Inaction further exacerbates the spread of diseases such as diarrhea.

During monsoon season, eggs of the female mosquito (Aedes Aegypti), which causes dengue virus in Karachi, start to hatch into larvae, and these mosquitoes breed rapidly. These mosquitoes require human blood to survive, which they obtain by biting humans. Due to this, from September to December, the dengue virus intensifies.

Relevant district and health authorities are aware of this situation, but for the past three years, notably when the head office of Vector-Borne Disease moved from Karachi to Hyderabad, routine germicidal chemical spraying campaigns, carried out to eliminate these mosquitoes, have become practically inactive.

Insufficient measures

For a population of atleast 20 million, only 18 employees are assigned to carry out malaria and dengue spraying in Karachi. These employees have not been paid their salaries for the last eight months and have not been made permanent in eight years.

More than 100 posts are vacant in the dengue program run under the Vector-Borne Disease Department.

The 18 dengue spraying employees are posted across the seven districts of Karachi, with two to three spraying staff are deployed per district in Karachi. However, this staff does not work under the District Health Offices (DHOs).

The spraying employees, on the condition of anonymity, said that germicidal chemical spraying has not been carried out in Karachi for several years, but politically influential officers have had spraying regularly done at their houses.

The affected employees said that under this program, the spraying experts have been working on contract for the past eight years and receive their salaries once a year. These employees hold ranks from Grade 2 to Grade 17.

These employees further stated that in Karachi and across Sindh, after monsoon rains, mosquito breeding increases rapidly from September onwards, and from September to December, dengue and malaria become extremely aggressive, leading to hundreds of valuable lives being lost every year.

Read: Vector-borne diseases continue to plague the city

Employees from Vector-Borne Disease Department said that for the spray campaign to eliminate mosquitoes in Karachi, each district is provided with Rs1.2 million annually, while the budget for germicidal chemicals is separate.

According to budget documents received by The Express Tribune, in the fiscal year 2024–25, the budget for the dengue control program under the Vector-Borne Disease department was increased by Rs2.5 million to Rs67.349 million, out of which Rs16.66 million were allocated for spraying.

In the current budget year, Rs14.5 million have been allocated specifically for chemicals used in mosquito-killing sprays. Despite this, the spray campaign in Karachi has not been initiated.

Vector-Borne Disease Dengue Control Program Director Dr Mushtaq Shah said that, “We provide technical support to District Health Officers and local governments for mosquito elimination and the destruction of larvae emerging from the eggs of female mosquitoes”.

“The spraying campaign is under the control of District Health Officers, and steps are being taken to launch the campaign, and in many areas the spraying has already started.”

Dr Shah stated that in collaboration with DHOs, the spraying campaign to eliminate dengue has been launched.

Meanwhile, District Health Officers in Karachi claim that for fumigation they do not have enough Vector-Borne Disease staff, and the concerned staff is not administratively under the DHOs.

Hospitals overwhelmed

Public hospitals remain underprepared to treat the influx of patients with dengue and malaria that descend every year. People affected by the dengue virus suffer from high fever along with a severe drop in platelet count. However, there is no arrangement at the government level for the provision of platelets for people affected by dengue, so most patients are forced to turn to private hospitals for treatment.

Dengue case trends 2020-2025 in Sindh

At present, in private blood banks, one mega unit of platelets to save a dengue patient’s life is being sold for Rs30,000 to Rs40,000, while a single unit of platelets is being sold for Rs3,000 to Rs5,000. A mega unit is administered to patients experiencing a severe drop in platelet count.

Meanwhile, officials in the provincial health department claim that government hospitals are gradually activating wards and other facilities to prevent dengue.

People affected from 2020 to 2025:

According to data released by the Vector-Borne Disease Department, in 2020, a total of 4,318 individuals were affected by dengue virus across Karachi and Sindh, and three people lost their lives to this virus. In 2021, 6,739 individuals were infected, and the virus claimed the lives of 28 people.

Despite this, no mosquito-killing spray campaign was launched across Karachi or Sindh, due to which the virus intensified in 2022. In that year, 22,274 individuals were affected, and 64 people lost their lives. In 2023, 2,800 individuals were infected by dengue, but no deaths were reported.

In 2024, 892 dengue cases have been reported, and one patient died. The deceased was a resident of Karachi’s Central District.

Thus far in 2025, 557 cases have been reported and one patient has died. Across Sindh a total of 162,091 have been confirmed, and three confirmed cases of Cereberal Malaria.