Rates of mosquito repellents, sprays bite back victims

 

KARACHI / LAHORE / PESHAWAR:Along with the massive increase in dengue medication prices, the rates of mosquito killing sprays, coils, and mosquito repellent lotions have also skyrocketed, resulting in a double whammy for the people living in virus hotspots.

Residents of Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar are upset because they were previously priced out of dengue treatment due to exorbitant drug prices and are now priced out of combating mosquitoes as well.
While criticising traders, Umer Hussain, a resident of Karachi, said that they saw every disease or tragedy as a money-making opportunity.


"There is a scarcity of the lotion my children use to protect themselves from mosquito bites, and shopkeepers are taking advantage of the situation by charging exorbitant prices."
The situation in Lahore, to the northeast of Karachi, remains unchanged.
Mohammad Waseem, a resident of Punjab's capital, claims that pharmacies purposefully raised the prices of dengue treatment drugs, and that other retailers are now following suit by charging exorbitant prices. 

Waseem believed that the government had shunned all of its responsibilities in terms of dengue, including price control.
"A small can of mosquito repellent now costs Rs 400, while mosquito nets cost Rs 2,000."
"How can any poor man afford to protect himself against dengue?" wondered Nizar Khan, a resident of Peshawar's Gulbahar neighbourhood. 

Reiterating Waseem's criticism of the government, Khan stated that while the provincial government was encouraging citizens to protect themselves from dengue, it had failed to implement any price control mechanisms.
"There is no check and balance in place."
"Shopkeepers are charging whatever they want, while the district administration and government are sleeping," an enraged Khan observed.


The situation is even worse for flood victims.
"We're sleeping under the stars."
We have no access to healthcare, and mosquito nets are considered a luxury item.
So we're like sitting ducks for dengue mosquitoes," Rasheed Khan, a Nowshera resident who is currently living in a tent on the outskirts of Peshawar, lamented. 

While residents of three of the country's most populous cities are unhappy with the provincial governments' handling of dengue, Saima Bibi, a resident of Lahore's Allama Iqbal town area, which is currently a dengue hotspot, is furious at how residents have been left to fend for themselves.
"Everyone in government is only good for raising slogans."


The health cards they have provided do not work, they have not bothered to conduct the spraying campaigns on time, and they have not kept an eye on the exorbitant prices.
So, what exactly have they done for us?"