Emphasising the need for coordinated efforts among all stakeholder departments, Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh on Saturday, unveiled a multi-pronged strategy combining public awareness, stricter enforcement, and enhanced healthcare readiness to bring down the dengue cases by 80 percent this year.
“Dedicated dengue beds with mosquito nets have been allocated in District Hospitals, Sub-divisional Hospitals, CHCs, ESI Hospitals and Medical Colleges, while, the testing and treatment for dengue and malaria will remain free of cost at all government health facilities, including 881 Aam Aadmi Clinics,” said the Health Minister, while revealing the government’s initiatives to control Dengue this season.
Presiding over a meeting of the State Task Force meeting on Vector Borne Diseases here at Punjab Bhawan, on Saturday, Dr Balbir Singh announced that 'Har Shukarvar Dengue Te Var' campaign, initiated by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, will be commenced from May 1 onwards.
He also stressed on the importance of robust strategies to control dengue, malaria, and chikungunya, while, directing all the stakeholder departments to amplify their efforts and launch a mass awareness drive to prevent these vector-borne diseases.
Highlighting a crucial step, Dr Balbir Singh announced that Dengue is a notifiable disease in Punjab and the price for dengue testing in private hospitals and laboratories has been capped at Rs 600 statewide, ensuring affordable access to this vital service.
Outlining the Health Department's preparedness, Dr Balbir Singh informed that 50,000 nursing staff and 50,000 paramedical staff have been trained as mosquito larvae breeder checker and they will further train the officials of the aligned departments to how to identify larvae, breeding spots etc.
During the meeting, Dr Balbir Singh also reviewed the ongoing activities of various departments in tackling the dengue. He instructed officials to make concerted efforts to control both dengue and malaria to safeguard public health.Lauding the effectiveness of the 'Har Shukarvar Dengue Te Var' campaign, Dr Balbir Singh said, “This awareness campaign has yielded remarkable results last year, with dengue cases witnessed 50 percent reduction, while, dengue related deaths drastically reduced by 66 percent. Furthermore, no malaria-related deaths were reported in 2024.”
Expanding the preventive measures, the Health Minister disclosed that school children and teachers will be actively involved by organising special awareness camps in schools. These camps will focus on educating them about preventive steps against various vector-borne diseases. He also directed the School Education Department to eliminate stagnant water in school premises, particularly around toilets, mid-day meal kitchen, and overhead water tanks.
To ensure effective information dissemination, Dr Balbir Singh directed the Department officials to establish a clear communication channel utilising the services of Mass Education and Media wing. This will facilitate the flow of health-specific information to ASHA workers, Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committee members and other stakeholder departments, leading to better implementation of government initiatives.
Dr Balbir Singh appealed to the public to actively prevent mosquito breeding by not letting water stagnation in and around their homes. He also urged citizens to visit government hospitals immediately if they experience any symptoms and get tested for dengue and malaria.
Addressing another critical aspect, the Health Minister directed the officers of the Water Supply and Sanitation Department to promptly rectify any malfunctioning reverse osmosis (RO) systems across the state that have been installed for water purification. The State Program Officer (National Vector Borne Disease Control Program), Dr Arshdeep Kaur, presented an overview of the work undertaken to prevent vector-borne diseases and outlined the future plans of the Health Department.
The meeting was attended by key officials including Principal Secretary Health Kumar Rahul, Special Secretary Health-cum-MD NHM Ghanshyam Thori, Director Health and Family Welfare Dr Hitinder Kaur, Director Health Services (Family Welfare) Dr Jasminder, DRME Dr Avnish Kumar, and officers from the Rural Development and Panchayats, State Transport, Medical Education and Research, School Education, Labour, Water Supply & Sanitation, and Senior Regional Director Health and Family Welfare.