North
Preventive health in Punjab
Hepatitis C has an unusually high profile here, alongside the groundwater contamination that also shapes the state's cancer picture.
What matters most in Punjab
Hepatitis C
Why here: Historically high burden linked to unsafe injections and reused equipment; it destroys the liver silently over decades and is now curable.
What to look for: Usually none for years. Then tiredness, yellow eyes, swelling of the abdomen or legs.
What to do: Free testing and curable treatment under the state and national viral hepatitis programme. Anyone who has had injections, dialysis, transfusion or tattooing should test once.
Arsenic and heavy metals in groundwater
Why here: Contaminated groundwater in parts of the state affects skin, kidney and long-term cancer risk.
What to look for: Dark or mottled pigmentation on the chest and back, thickened patches on palms and soles.
What to do: Get the source tested through the district lab. Boiling does not remove arsenic — it concentrates it. Reverse osmosis or a tested piped supply does.
Dengue
Why here: Seasonal urban transmission across the state after the monsoon.
What to look for: The day 3–7 warning phase: belly pain, vomiting, bleeding.
What to do: Empty and scrub coolers, tanks and drums weekly — the mosquito breeds in clean stored water. Paracetamol only; ibuprofen and aspirin worsen bleeding.
And everywhere in India
These are not specific to Punjab, but they cause more illness nationally than anything above, and every one of them is covered free by a national programme.
Tuberculosis
Why here: Still India's deadliest infectious disease, in every state and every income group.
What to look for: A cough lasting more than two weeks, evening fever, night sweats, losing weight without trying.
What to do: Diagnosis and the full drug course are free under the NTEP at any government facility. Stopping early is what creates drug-resistant TB — finish the course.
Snakebite
Why here: One of India's largest causes of accidental death, and heavily rural. Most deaths are delays, not venom.
What to look for: Any bite from an unidentified snake. Drooping eyelids, difficulty swallowing or breathing, or bleeding that will not stop are emergencies.
What to do: Go straight to a government hospital with antivenom. Do not cut, suck, or apply a tourniquet, and do not go to a traditional healer first — that detour is what kills.
Rabies
Why here: Effectively always fatal once symptoms begin, and effectively always preventable before they do.
What to look for: Any bite, scratch or lick on broken skin from a dog, cat, monkey or bat. There is no safe wait-and-see.
What to do: Wash the wound with soap under running water for 15 minutes, then get the vaccine the same day. Free under the NRCP. A wound that looks trivial still counts.
Dengue
Why here: Present in every state and rising with urbanisation; the danger is the crash after the fever breaks.
What to look for: High fever with severe body ache, then — around day 3–7 — belly pain, vomiting, bleeding gums, or sudden exhaustion. That phase is the dangerous one.
What to do: Fluids and paracetamol only. Avoid ibuprofen and aspirin, which worsen bleeding. Empty standing water weekly — the mosquito breeds in clean water at home, not in drains.
The programmes named on this page
- NCVBDC — National Center for Vector Borne Diseases Control
- NTEP — National TB Elimination Programme
- UIP — Universal Immunisation Programme
- IDSP — Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme
- NRCP — National Rabies Control Programme
- NSCAEM — National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission
Each is a real government programme, and the testing or treatment described is free at a government facility.
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