Punjab Health Department on Wednesday extended the facility of free dengue testing in 33 centres across the state, Health minister Brahm Mohindra said on Wednesday.
After chairing a meeting of the state task force on dengue on World Malaria Day, Mohindra said that the other initiative taken to fight the menace of dengue is that all the Medical Officers would be trained on the preventive measures required to check the its spread.
In a statement, he said earlier free dengue testing was available at only 26 centers which has now been extended at 33 centres. He said the supportive treatment will be free in all Government Hospitals of the State upto Community Health Centre level where dengue wards will be established and these will be affixed with mosquito nets.
During the departments meeting the preparedness of various stakeholder for upcoming season of dengue and other vector borne diseases was also reviewed by Mohindra. Taking serious note of spread of the dengue in the State last year strict instructions were given to Department of local Government to procure the requisite insecticides and spray pumps and fogging machines before the onset of season of dengue as the responsibility of prevention of dengue in urban areas lies with local Government.
The Minister also instructed Rural Development and Panchayats department to identify ponds so that all of the water bodies be seeded with gambusia fishes in order to prevent breeding of mosquitoes.