Minister for coordination among depts to contain vector-borne diseases
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, July 31
Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh on Wednesday directed officials of Health, Local Government, Rural Development and Panchayats departments to work in tandem to prevent and contain vector-borne and water-borne diseases in the district.
Chairing a district-level meeting to review the preparedness for prevention and control of water and vector-borne diseases in Ludhiana, Dr Singh stressed the importance of seamless coordination among officials of the departments.
He emphasised that every official should have all details of cases, hotspots, samples and other vital information readily available.
He also highlighted the collective responsibility in preventing and controlling water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, hepatitis-A and vector-borne diseases, including malaria, dengue and chikungunya.
In case of an outbreak, the minister directed the Municipal Corporation/ municipal councils and other agencies concerned to identify and rectify faults, leading to water contamination promptly at first.
“Until the fault is rectified, clean drinking water should be provided to the public to prevent further escalation of cases. Door-to-door surveys should be conducted and necessary medicines should be delivered to affected areas,” he asserted.
The minister also stressed the importance of holding an awareness drive by the Health Department to make people aware of identifying larvae and checking water containers in their houses daily. “The drive should also target educational institutions to educate students about larvae, as they can play a vital role in sensitising people around them to help prevent the breeding of mosquitoes in their surroundings,” he said.
Besides, the health minister also reviewed the functioning of Aam Aadmi Clinics, OOAT centres and drug deaddiction and rehabilitation centres and medicine availability.
Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney informed the Health Minister that daily monitoring of the situation was being conducted and all departments were submitting water-sampling reports in the evening to her. “Immediate rectification measures are implemented where reports are found unsatisfactory,” she said.
