Prevention Non-Communicable Diseases: Punjab Health dept employees asked to work on holidays to meet screening target
Out of a target population of 92.34 lakh people, only 34 lakh individuals have been screened so far in the state. Of those, just 25 lakh have had their data uploaded to the NCD portal
Patiala
Under pressure to meet its target for screening patients for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) under the National Programme for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NP-NCD) by the March 31, the Punjab health department has asked its employees to work through the government holidays, including Sunday and Monday (March 29-31).
Out of a target population of 92.34 lakh people, only 34 lakh individuals have been screened so far in the state. Of those, just 25 lakh have had their data uploaded to the NCD portal. The situation is made more urgent by a gap in the data collection from Aam Aadmi Clinics, where an additional 35 lakh patients have been screened but their information has not been linked to the NCD portal, officials familiar with the development said.
This has prompted intervention from the Union ministry of health and family welfare, which has flagged Punjab among the “poor-performing” states.
The health statistics are also concerning. Around 19% of the screened population in Punjab suffers from hypertension, which is higher than the national average of 16%. This highlights the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as hypertension and diabetes in the state, underlining the need for effective screening and treatment programmes.
To address the backlog, community health officers (CHOs), ASHA workers, and medical officers (MOs) have been asked to work through the holidays to complete screenings, while other staff members will focus on uploading the backlog data. The state’s civil surgeons and nodal officers are also visiting health centres to ensure maximum screening output before the March 31 deadline.
The major challenge remains the data linkage issue, with screenings at Aam Aadmi Clinics not yet connected to the NCD portal.
Confirming the development, Ghanshyam Thori, mission director, National Health Mission, Punjab, said: “CHOs will screen patients in the next two days while other staff will upload the offline data on the portal.”
When asked about Punjab’s failure to achieve the target, Thori said: “Data of around 35 lakh patients — of the total 2 crore — that has been screened at Aam Aadmi Clinics could not be linked to the NCD portal. We have requested the Union government to get the same data to be linked, but they conveyed that it will take time.”
