Chandigarh, July 1:- With the arrival of monsoon in Haryana, the health department has become fully prepared against dengue. In this context, Haryana Health Minister Aarti Singh Rao has advised the people of the state to be alert and take precautions. Giving the slogan "Let's stop dengue together", the Health Minister has appealed to the citizens of the state to observe the month of July as 'Dengue Prevention Month' and not allow water to accumulate around them.

He said that dengue is spread by the bite of Aedes mosquito, which mainly bites during the day and always breeds in standing clean water. The Health Minister has appealed to the public to fulfill their social responsibility and take the saying "Wherever water stands - mosquitoes will breed there" seriously.

Aarti Singh Rao has advised the residents of the state to observe 'Sukka Diwas' every Sunday in their homes and Friday in their offices. On this day, all water containers, coolers, tanks, trays behind the refrigerator, flower pots and trays placed under the flower pots should be emptied and dried for at least 24 hours so that mosquito eggs and larvae are completely destroyed.

Along with this, he has directed to always keep the water tanks placed on the roofs closed with a lid and to clean the useless plastic items, old tires and coconut shells etc. lying on the roofs before the onset of monsoon rains. He also said that the pits around the houses should be filled with soil, wear full-sleeved clothes, use mosquito repellent cream or insecticide-treated mosquito nets.

Giving information about the facilities being provided by the Haryana government to the citizens of the state, the Health Minister said that platelets facility has been made available completely free of cost in the civil hospitals of every district of Haryana. Apart from this, a total of 27 government dengue testing laboratories are functional in the civil hospitals of every district of the state, where dengue testing is being done completely free of cost.

Talking about the control on the private sector, he clarified that all private labs have been given strict instructions to conduct ELISA based NS-1 and IgM Dengue tests for a maximum of Rs 600 only. To avail all these government facilities, citizens can contact the Chief Medical Officer or District Malaria Officer of their district.

The Health Minister, while alerting the people about the symptoms of dengue, said that sudden high fever, sudden severe headache, pain in muscles and joints and pain behind the eyes (which increases with eye movement) are its main symptoms. He strictly instructed the public to immediately visit their nearest medical center and get a free blood test if they see any of these symptoms.

He specifically warned that patients should always take medicine as per the doctor's advice and should not take any medicine on their own even if they forget. The Health Minister finally gave the message that if we have to keep this disease away from our state, then we all have to play our role together.