MINGORA, Nov 28: The local administration has announced to launch an antidengue campaign well before the coming spring season to eradicate all possible causes of spread of the mosquitoborne disease in Swat district.

In this regard a conference was jointly organised here the other day by Swat district administration and World Health Organisation to discuss plans for sorting out a strategy in the light of bitter experience of emergence of thousands of dengue cases.

Commissioner Malakand division Afsar Khan presided over the conference while the participants included Senator Amarjeet Malhotra, MNA Mussarat Ahmad Zeb and MPAs Mohibullah, Azizullah, Nadia Sher,Nageena, Muzaffar Sayed, Bakht Baidar and Abdul Muneem Khan.

Officials of health department said on the occasion that dengue fever had affected over 9,000 people and claimed 38 lives in the district this year. Officials of the local administration said that they would carry out a comprehensive antidengue campaign before the spring season to eliminate larvae before April 2014.

Assistant commissioner, Swat, Farrukh Atique told the conference that not a single dengue positive case had been reported in the district since Nov 20.

Experts have already warned that if the virus appeared for the second time in Swat district it would be more harmful than the current year. They urged the relevant quarters to work collectively foreradication of the larvae and their breading places.

The lawmakers assured the participants that they would soon present a bill in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly for provision of necessary funds.

BOYCOTT: The Peshawar High Court, Mingora bench, Bar Association boycotted the court proceedings here the other day in protest against the alleged police torture on Supreme Court lawyers in Islamabad the other day.

The lawyers didn`t appear before Darul Qaza to register protest against the torture of their colleagues.

Meanwhile, lawyers attended a meeting, which was presided over by Abdul Haleem advocate. The meeting demanded action against the police officials involved in the incident.