Telangana Deputy Chief Minister T. Rajaiah has affirmed that the TRS government would strengthen the Department of Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) to harness the potential of alternative and traditional systems of medicine to safeguard public health.

He was speaking at a meeting after inaugurating the second floor of a homeopathy hospital building here on Saturday evening.

He formally launched a special drive to distribute homeopathy medicines for prevention of dengue, malaria and chikungunya on the occasion. Collector K. Ilambarithi presided over the ceremony.

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Rajaiah emphasised the need for effective implementation of preventive steps such as anti-mosquito drive to keep the vector-borne diseases at bay.

The field level functionaries of the government departments should focus on spreading health awareness among Adivasis living in the far-flung areas of the Bhadrachalam Agency, he said, suggesting that mass awareness programmes should be conducted in Koya and other tribal languages to enable the Adivasis take preventive healthcare measures and access medical services in time.

He called upon people to furnish the details of their socio-economic condition to the enumerators during the ensuing intensive household survey slated for August 19.

Mr. Rajaiah inaugurated a 10-bedded Ayurveda hospital at the government hospital premises here late in the evening.