Ludhiana, May 9
Dr J.S. Bhullar, the newly appointed Civil Surgeon in Ludhiana, feels that the Health Department is doing a good job in creating health awareness among the masses, but the city’s growing population is hampering the department’s work.
In an interview with Ludhiana Tribune, Dr Bhullar said that presently the department was concentrating on the pulse polio campaign. He said, “There should be complete eradication of polio from the district. We wish to build a polio-free society. Health workers have been doing their job very well during this five-day campaign. They are visiting slum areas, villages and streets of the district and have been telling the people to administer polio drops to their children below five”.
He said the department has appealed to the school authorities for granting holidays to LKG and UKG children so that they could be easily administered polio drops.
Dr Bhullar wants to concentrate on health-related Central Government’s national programmes. “After this we will be concentrating on tuberculosis patients. The Central Government has recently started a programme for TB patients, which will be 60 days treatment. Our next move will be to control those medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) centres in the district, which are not registered. The department is also preparing itself to control the diseases like cholera, gastroenteritis and malaria with the help of the Municipal Corporation”, he said.
On female foeticide, he said those involved in this unethical practice are now scared. “There is a need to change the mind-set of public if the problem has to be curbed”, stressed Dr Bhullar.
Dr Bhullar said he was quite familiar with the city as he was posted Deputy Medical Commissioner and District Health Officer here a few years ago. He also remained Senior Medical Officer at Machhiwara and Samrala.
Speaking on the raids conducted by the Vigilance Bureau in the Health and Veterinary Clinics here yesterday, Dr Bhullar said he fully supported the doctors and staff who were found “absent”. In fact they were on duty since 7 am because of the polio mop-up operation. “The Vigilance Department had found 88 members of the staff missing but actually they were busy conducting a door-to-door survey. A total of 1200 teams have been made and each team consists of two health workers, who have to visit approximately 125 houses daily. This is such a tight schedule as more than 100 children will be given polio drops by each team (in a day). How can you expect that they will come to mark their attendance in a such situation?” he asked.
Dr Bhullar said the health needs of people in the city had increased in recent years and the department will try to fulfill these needs, and for that cooperation of public is very much needed.
Meanwhile, Dr Bhullar has assured the Punjab Civil Medical Services Association that he would inform the Director, Vigilance, that the medical and para-medical staff who were found absent were in fact on duty in the mop-up polio campaign.
A delegation of the PCMS association, headed by Dr Harvinder Singh, state president and Dr Balwinder Kumar, district general secretary, had met the Civil Surgeon today seeking his support. “The CS has given us assurance that the medical and para-medical staff, who were found “absent” by the Vigilance Department will not be considered absent”, said Dr Balwinder Kumar.
