Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh on Sunday launched a three-day polio immunisation campaign from a district hospital here on Sunday. Singh said that the immunisation drive has set a target of administering polio drops to over 14 lakh children in the age group of 0-5 years from May 28 to May 30 across 12 districts of Punjab.
After inaugurating the polio immunisation drive, he said that the Punjab government would soon restructure the 'pay scale' of doctors to strengthen government health services. He said that 550 new doctors will join by next month. The minister himself administered polio immunisation drops to a child at the district hospital.
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Stressing the importance of the campaign, Singh said that although no wild poliovirus case has been reported since 2010 and the previous case of polio was reported in October 2009 in Ludhiana, still Punjab is at a high the virus importation from its neighbouring endemic countries, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan. So, because of this polio campaigns are being periodically undertaken in the state, he said.
Transit teams have already been established at Attari Border to ensure the vaccination of individuals crossing the Indo-Pak border. Similarly, vaccination sites are established at Dera Baba Nanak, District Gurdaspur checkpoint on opening up the Kartarpur corridor, he said.
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The minister said that for the successful execution of the campaign, as many as 7,054 booths have been set up while 13,136 door-to-door teams, 334 mobile teams and 279 transit teams have been formed, besides deploying a total of 27,109 vaccinators.
As many as 1,335 supervisors will oversee the work of the vaccinators. The teams will also visit 5,109 high-risk areas which include 2,107 slums, 132 construction sites, 902 nomadic sites, 132 brick kilns and 729 other sites.
Meanwhile, Singh also mentioned that Punjab was in great need of doctors and the government was committed to overcoming the shortage of medical specialists, radiodiagnostics, gynaecologists and others at its level. The infrastructural requirements and paramedical, as well as supporting staff, would also be recruited in government health institutions soon, he added.
The health minister said that 'rate contracts' have already been finalised for 95 per cent of the medicines supplied in government hospitals and the remaining 5 per cent will also be completed soon. He said that in the near future, the emergency medical services of the government hospitals would be equipped with all required tests, medical experts and medicines to make it more responsive.
Singh also informed that the 580 'Aam Aadmi Clinics' opened in the state have provided major relief to the common people in the healthcare field, due to which the rush of OPD patients in the government hospitals has reduced.
