— ZERO CONFIRMED DENGUE DEATHS REPORTED IN PUNJAB THIS YEAR, SAYS HEALTH MINISTER DR BALBIR SINGH
— “INSTEAD OF TRACKING DENGUE CASES, WE ARE TRACKING DENGUE LARVAE”: DR BALBIR SINGH
— DCs DIRECTED FOR REGULAR REVIEWS AND ROPE IN ASHA WORKERS AND NURSING STUDENTS FOR DOOR-TO-DOOR LARVAE DETECTION
— HEALTH MINISTER CALLS FOR PROPER ORGANISATION OF MMSY CARD DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS AT VILLAGE AND MOHALLA LEVEL
Chandigarh, September 22:
Reiterating the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann led Punjab government’s firm resolve to safeguard public health, Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh on Tuesday chaired a comprehensive high-level review meeting at the Directorate of Health Services (DHS) to assess the prevention and control measures for vector-borne and water-borne diseases across the state.
The Health Minister was accompanied by Principal Secretary Health Kumar Rahul, Member Punjab Development Commission Anurag Kundu, Special Secretary Health-cum-MD National Health Mission (NHM) Sakshi Sawhney, Director Health Services Dr Hitinder Kaur, and Director Health Services (Family Welfare) Dr Aditi Salaria. Deputy Director Dr Rohini Goyal, Assistant Director Dr Manmeet Kaur, State Programme Officer Dr Arshdeep kaur were also present. Deputy Commissioners, Civil Surgeons and District Epidemiologists joined the meeting virtually.
Reviewing the epidemiological data, Dr Balbir Singh highlighted that due to proactive preventive measures, Punjab has recorded zero dengue-related deaths so far this year. A total of 1,00,414 dengue samples have been tested till September 21 (with 64049 sample tested at Aam Aadmi Clinics) recording a significantly low positivity rate of 0.45% (451 positive cases). The Health Minister lauded Amritsar and Jalandhar for their remarkable performance in conducting extensive dengue testing. He also reviewed the status of 16 Chikungunya cases reported in the state this year.
“We are going a step ahead. Instead of merely tracking dengue cases, our priority is aggressively tracking and destroying dengue larvae,” said Dr Balbir Singh, while adding that directing Deputy Commissioners and health authorities to conduct regular reviews, he instructed that field surveillance and regular visits to identified dengue hotspots by epidemiology teams, and follow-up mechanisms must be intensified.
Emphasising inter-departmental synergy and active community participation, the Minister directed districts to rope in ASHA workers and nursing students for rigorous door-to-door surveys to identify and eliminate mosquito breeding sources. He directed that Village Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Committees (VHSNC) meetings be conducted actively at the village level. Acknowledging their pivotal role, the Minister stated that appropriate payment and incentives are being provided to ASHA workers for undertaking door-to-door survey work.
While appreciating Faridkot district for achieving 100% involvement of nursing students in anti-dengue field activities, the Health Minister urged other districts to scale up student participation. He issued special directions to ramp up VHSNC meetings, field inspections, and ASHA engagement in districts reporting higher caseloads, including Ludhiana, Kapurthala, Faridkot, and Tarn Taran. The Minister also instructed local authorities to carry out appropriate, need-based indoor and outdoor fogging.
Turning attention to water-borne diseases (WBD), the Minister reviewed the status of acute diarrhoeal diseases, cholera, and hepatitis outbreaks. He directed officials to maintain strict water-quality surveillance, carry out regular testing of potable water sources, rectify leaking pipelines or contaminated supply channels immediately, and keep buffer stocks of ORS, IV fluids, chlorine tablets, and essential medicines ready across all healthcare institutions.
The Health Minister also reviewed the distribution of Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojana (MMSY) cards. He directed all Deputy Commissioners and district health authorities to properly organise MMSY card distribution functions at the village and mohalla levels.
Meanwhile, Dr Balbir Singh called upon all departments to work in close tandem and urged citizens to actively participate in source-reduction activities: “The success of disease prevention lies in community ownership. By ensuring clean surroundings and checking stagnant water, we can together keep Punjab healthy and disease-free.”
