Punjab floods: Special health drive focusing on medical camps, door-to-door visits begins

To protect the health of citizens in the flood-ravaged areas of the state, Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh has issued orders for a massive mobilisation of the state's entire medical fraternity in several affected villages from Sunday.

The minister has issued orders directing the deployment of all available resources, including government doctors, private volunteers, Ayurveda medical officers and MBBS interns, to spearhead a 'Special Health Campaign' in 2,303 flood-affected villages from Sunday.

Singh has mandated that Civil Surgeons engage every possible medical professional to man health camps and door-to-door teams, ensuring no village is left without healthcare and preventive care to stave off disease outbreaks in the aftermath of the floods.

The special campaign is being implemented across all 2,303 villages adversely affected by the recent unprecedented floods, with the primary objective of preventing outbreaks of vector-borne, waterborne and communicable diseases.

"The well-being of our people is our topmost priority. In the aftermath of this calamity, we are launching a comprehensive, multi-layered health intervention to ensure no one is left without access to medical care and preventive measures," Singh said on Sunday.

Elaborating on the strategy, the health minister said the campaign is built on three core components — first being health and medical camps under which daily medical camps will be organised in all 2,303 villages.

In 596 villages with existing health facilities like 'Aam Aadmi Clinics', these centres will host the camps daily. In the remaining 1,707 villages, camps will be set up in public spaces like schools and community centres for a minimum of three days, extendable based on need.

The second is door-to-door visits by Accredited Social Health Activists under which a force of over 11,103 ASHA workers will conduct weekly house-to-house visits in these villages to distribute essential health kits containing mosquito repellent, ORS, paracetamol, chlorine tablets, soap, and other supplies, he said, while adding that they will also screen for illnesses and raise awareness about disease prevention.

As part of the last component, a rigorous fumigation and vector-control exercise will be carried out every day for the next 21 days in all affected villages. Teams will conduct indoor and outdoor fogging, larvicidal spraying, and breeding checks in households, schools, markets, and other public places to prevent outbreaks of dengue and malaria.

The campaign will be supported by a robust fleet of over 550 ambulances, including 180 government ambulances and 254 arranged through the Indian Medical Association, to strengthen health services and patient access.

The health minister stated that the department has identified 85 essential drugs and 23 consumables for flood relief, which are in sufficient stock and will be made available at all health camps and facilities.

Districts have also been empowered to procure any required items locally to avoid delays, he said.

"This is a race against time to safeguard public health. I urge all departments, NGOs, charitable institutions, and the community to join hands with our health teams. Under the guidance of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, we are committed to working tirelessly until the situation is fully normalised and every citizen is safe," the minister said.

The Civil Surgeons and Block Senior Medical Officers have been entrusted with the robust supervision and implementation of the campaign in their respective districts, he said.