‘Health teams can inspect any place, even a minister’s office’

LUCKNOW: State health minister Siddharthnath Singh said the anti-dengue drive has been intensified as health teams are empowered to inspect any place suspected to be a mosquito breeding spot, even if it is a minister’s office.

“Any person caught ignoring directives to remove stagnant water will be fined, irrespective of his or her status,” emphasised the minister.

“The government is fully prepared to fight out dengue menace and all preventive actions are in place,” said the minister while addressing a press conference for the first time at the health directorate on Friday.

All hospitals have been allocated beds for dengue patients and every Sunday there will be a special drive to check mosquito breeding, he said.

The government has started campaign against vector borne diseases and this year with monsoon arriving in the region on time the concern is even more.

The minister informed that fever help desks have been set up at hospitals so that patients suffering from high fever don’t have to stand in long queues.

Even community health centres have been asked to allocate beds for treatment, added Singh.

“Other departments such as nagar nigam are associated with the drive while we have also asked schools to educate students on issues such as dengue and malaria,” said the state health minister .