KHYBER AGENCY: The local political leaders organised an awareness session at the jirga hill in Landi Kotal tehsil on Wednesday to apprise people of preventive measures against the ‘mosquito-borne’ dengue disease. Besides, tribal elders, religious clerics, volunteers of welfare organisations, bazaar union, administrative officials and civil society attended the session. In his address to the session, Landi Kotal assistant political agent (APA) Niaz Muhammad said that the gathering intends to educate tribesmen before the disease spreads and adopt effective precautions to control it. He stressed tribesmen to strictly follow precautionary measures and counselled them about the symptoms of dengue. Earlier, Dr Hidayat Shinwari provided information on the causes, symptoms and the cure of dengue. He urged them to use mosquito nets while sleeping, cover the ponds in the region to halt breeding of mosquitoes and wear full-sleeved clothes. He said that no potential cure is available for the mosquito-borne disease. He urged tribesmen to instantly contact doctors when symptoms including flu, fever, and pain appear in the body. Malik Darya Khan Afridi, on behalf of the tribesmen, assured to adopt the preventive measure in the region. However, he asked administration and the health department to spray in the area, provide mosquito nets to the tribesmen and establish ‘free’ laboratory for medical tests. At the end, the participants walked from the Jirga hall to the press club as a ‘dengue awareness walk’. Published in Daily Times, April 26th 2018.