Chandigarh : Free tuberculosis treatment at ESI centres

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab health department will soon provide free tuberculosis (TB) diagnostic and treatment services at ESI hospitals and dispensaries.

Designated microscopic centres will also be established in these hospitals to conduct TB tests, said Punjab health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu. He also said the insured workers and their dependants are getting free medicines from employees social insurance (ESI) hospitals.

Sidhu on Wednesday handed over appointment letters to 130 para-medical staff appointed for ESI centres. He said ESI hospitals were providing health services to about 13 lakh insured workers and their dependants. He said filling vacant posts in government hospitals as well as ESI hospitals and dispensaries was the top priority of the Congress government.